Abortion traditionally means, "to miscarry" and is still known as a problem which societies has been trying to reduce its rate by using legal means. Despite the pregnant women and fetuses have being historically supported; abortion was firstly criminalized in 1926 in Iran, 20 years after establishment of modern legal system. During next 53 years this situation changed dramatically, so in 1979, the time of Islamic Revolution, aborting fetuses before 12 weeks and therapeutic abortion (TA) during all the pregnancy length was legitimate, based on regulations that used medical justification. After 1979 the situation changed into a totally conservative and restrictive approach and new Islamic concepts as "Blood Money" and "Ensoulment" entered the legal debates around abortion. During the next 33 years, again a trend of decriminalization for the act of abortion has been continuing. Reduction of punishments and omitting retaliation for criminal abortions, recognizing fetal and maternal medical indications including some immunologic problems as legitimate reasons for aborting fetuses before 4 months and omitting the fathers' consent as a necessary condition for TA are among these changes. The start point for this decriminalization process was public and professional need, which was responded by religious government, firstly by issuing juristic rulings (Fatwas) as a non-official way, followed by ratification of "Therapeutic Abortion Act" (TAA) and other regulations as an official pathway. Here, we have reviewed this trend of decriminalization, the role of public and professional request in initiating such process and the rule-based language of TAA. PMID:24338232

EA 4272 The Impact of LegalizedAbortion on Child Health Outcomes and Abandonment. Evidence from,version1-7Apr2010 #12;The Impact of LegalizedAbortion on Child Health Outcomes and Abandonment. Evidence and a unique census of institutionalized children to analyze the impact of abortionlegalization in Romania

Reviews various aspects of legalabortion, including attitudes, practices, mortality and effects, as they relate to black American women. States that black women have shared in the health benefits accompanying the increased availability of legalabortion, probably to an even greater extent than white women. (Author/GC)

The Angels asked God: Is there a solution for the abortion debate? God: Yes, of course my Angels. It will be resolved. The Angels: When? God: Not in my lifetime. (Oktay Kadayifçi) The abortion debate is an emotional, sensitive and complicated issue that interests society and religion. Our intention is not to convince you to accept either side of the

According to international press reports, a law that would have allowed Portuguese women abortions through the 10th week of pregnancy and into the 16th week if their physical or mental health was at risk has been rescinded after a referendum to determine the statute's future was voided because of low voter turnout. Passed in February, the law was a liberalization of Portugal's strict anti-abortion laws, which ban all abortions except for narrowly defined medical reasons or in the case of rape (and those are permitted only until the 12th week of pregnancy). Because the issue is such a controversial one, politicians had turned to a national referendum asking Portuguese voters to overturn or ratify the new law. The referendum was the first in the country since the end of its right-wing dictatorship in 1974, and 50% participation was required. Only 31.5% of the country's 8.5 million eligible voters went to the polls on June 28. Of those voting, 50.9% voted against the liberalized new legislation. Sunny weather and World Cup soccer matches were both pointed to as reasons for the low turnout. Officials estimate there are some 20,000 illegal abortions annually in Portugal. Abortion-rights activists in the mostly Roman-Catholic country say hospitals see roughly 10,000 women a year suffering from complications from illegal abortions, and that at least 800 women die each year from the procedure. In the next day's Diario de Noticias, a daily paper in Portugal, the entire front page was filled with a giant question mark. "What now, lawmakers?" the headline read. PMID:12293809

Abortion is legally restricted in most of Latin America where 95% of the 4.4 million abortions performed annually are unsafe. Medical abortion (MA) refers to the use of a drug or a combination of drugs to terminate pregnancy. Mifepristone followed by misoprostol is the most effective and recommended regime. In settings where mifepristone is not available, misoprostol alone is used.Medical abortion has radically changed abortion practices worldwide, and particularly in legally restricted contexts. In Latin America women have been using misoprostol for self-induced home abortions for over two decades.This article summarizes the findings of a literature review on women's experiences with medical abortion in Latin American countries where voluntary abortion is illegal.Women's personal experiences with medical abortion are diverse and vary according to context, age, reproductive history, social and educational level, knowledge about medical abortion, and the physical, emotional, and social circumstances linked to the pregnancy. But most importantly, experiences are determined by whether or not women have the chance to access: 1) a medically supervised abortion in a clandestine clinic or 2) complete and accurate information on medical abortion. Other key factors are access to economic resources and emotional support.Women value the safety and effectiveness of MA as well as the privacy that it allows and the possibility of having their partner, a friend or a person of their choice nearby during the process. Women perceive MA as less painful, easier, safer, more practical, less expensive, more natural and less traumatic than other abortion methods. The fact that it is self-induced and that it avoids surgery are also pointed out as advantages. Main disadvantages identified by women are that MA is painful and takes time to complete. Other negatively evaluated aspects have to do with side effects, prolonged bleeding, the possibility that it might not be effective, and the fact that some women eventually need to seek medical care at a hospital where they might be sanctioned for having an abortion and even reported to the police. PMID:23259660

The present study aims to increase knowledge about coping with legalabortion by studying women's reasoning, reactions and emotions over a period of 1 year. The study comprises interviews focusing on the experiences and effects of abortion in 58 women, 4 and 12 months after the abortion. The women also answered a questionnaire before the abortion concerning their living conditions,

LegalAbortions, SocioeconomicStatus, and Measured Intelligence in the United States Joel E. Cohen practice of therapeutic abortions in the United States. Unless otherwise specified, all abortions dscussed constructionof an asso- ciation between frequency of abortions and meaared intelligence. If the frequencies of

The National Hospital Discharge Survey records for medical-legal, spontaneous, and "other" abortions (ICDA-8 640-641, 643, and 644 respectively) for 1970-1977 were analyzed to investigate the impact of liberalized access to abortion on abortion-related morbidity in the United States. The analysis suggests that in census regions where an increase in medical-legalabortions performed in hospitals occurred over the study period there was an associated decreased likelihood of a "spontaneous" or "other" abortion. The spontaneous and "other" abortion codes appear to have been used synonymously and a small number of each used to classify complications of both illegal and legalabortions performed outside hospitals. There was a significant reduction in length of stay for spontaneous and other abortions between 1970 and 1977. This is suggestive of decreasing severe presenting symptomatology for complicated abortion. The study further suggests that: during 1970-77 illegal abortions were largely replaced by legal procedures; increases in legalabortions beyond those replacing illegal have not resulted in increased rates of hospitalization for complicated abortion; and, the case morbidity rate for legalabortion appears to have declined. PMID:7053616

Background China has a national policy regulating the number of children that a woman is allowed to have. The central concept at the individual level application is "illegal pregnancy". The purpose of this article is to describe and problematicize the concept of illegal pregnancy and its use in practice. Methods Original texts and previous published and unpublished reports and statistics were used. Results By 1979 the Chinese population policy was clearly a policy of controlling population growth. For a pregnancy to be legal, it has to be defined as such according to the family-level eligibility rules, and in some places it has to be within the local quota. Enforcement of the policy has been pursued via the State Family Planning (FP) Commission and the Communist Party (CP), both of which have a functioning vertical structure down to the lowest administrative units. There are various incentives and disincentives for families to follow the policy. An extensive system has been created to keep the contraceptive use and pregnancy status of all married women at reproductive age under constant surveillance. In the early 1990s FP and CP officials were made personally responsible for meeting population targets. Since 1979, abortion has been available on request, and the ratio of legalabortions to birth increased in the 1980s and declined in the 1990s. Similar to what happens in other Asian countries with low fertility rates and higher esteem for boys, both national- and local-level data show that an unnaturally greater number of boys than girls are registered as having been born. Conclusion Defining a pregnancy as "illegal" and carrying out the surveillance of individual women are phenomena unique in China, but this does not apply to other features of the policy. The moral judgment concerning the policy depends on the basic question of whether reproduction should be considered as an individual or social decision. PMID:16095526

Abortion is the most politically contested social issue in the United States, a debate that manifests itself in extensive regulation of abortion as a health care service. This study provides a brief history of the judicial acceptance of abortion regulation and an overview of the most common forms of abortion regulation affecting physicians in the United States. The article concludes with a discussion of pending threats to the legal right to abortion in the United States and recommended resources where physicians can find assistance to comply with existing laws. PMID:19407519

The new Penal Code in 2009 was an opportunity for Timor-Leste to allow some legal grounds for abortion, which was highly restricted under Indonesian rule. Public debate was contentious before ratification of the new code, which allowed abortion to save a woman's life and health. A month later, 13 amendments to the code were passed, highly restricting abortion again. This paper describes the socio-legal context of unsafe abortion in Timor-Leste, based on research in 2006-08 on national laws and policies and interviews with legal professionals, police, doctors and midwives, and community-based focus group discussions. Data on unsafe abortions in Timor-Leste are rarely recorded. A small number of cases of abortion and infanticide are reported but are rarely prosecuted, due to deficiencies in evidence and procedure. While there are voices supporting law reform, the Roman Catholic church heavily influences public policy and opinion. Professional views on when abortion should be legal varied, but in the community people believed that saving women's lives was paramount and came before the law. The revised Penal Code is insufficient to reduce unsafe abortion and maternal mortality. Change will be slow, but access to safe abortion and modern contraception are crucial to women's ability to participate fully as citizens in Timor-Leste. PMID:19962638

In this paper we examine the long-term impact of legalizedabortion on teenage out-of-wedlock childbearing in the United States using the birth data from the Vital Statistics of the U. S. Our fundamental argument is analogous to Donahue and Levitt’s (2001): by decreasing the number of unwanted children, legalizedabortion had potentially a negative impact on the likelihood of the

Many women need access to abortion care in the second trimester. Most of this care is provided by a small number of specialty clinics, which are increasingly targeted by regulations including bans on so-called partial birth abortion and requirements that the clinic qualify as an ambulatory surgical center. These regulations cause physicians to change their clinical practices or reduce the maximum gestational age at which they perform abortions to avoid legal risks. Ambulatory surgical center requirements significantly increase abortion costs and reduce the availability of abortion services despite the lack of any evidence that using those facilities positively affects health outcomes. Both types of laws threaten to further reduce access to and quality of second-trimester abortion care. PMID:19197087

During the middle and later years of the twentieth century, a movement to liberalize laws governing induced abortion swept the industrialized world and some of the major developing countries. The changes have generated an increasingly visible reaction among groups that seek to block further liberalization and re-institute restrictions on abortion. An examination of all changes in laws and regulations governing induced abortion that took effect between January, 1988 and February, 1993 found that the overall movement is still in the direction of liberalization of abortion laws, although restrictions have been increased in a few countries. During the time period studied, five countries made major liberalizing changes in their laws, while only one imposed major restrictions. PMID:8063897

3 national and 2 statewide polls on abortion attitudes were conducted in the U.S. during 1983. 3 of the surveys show some increase in public approval of legalabortion. The Gallup Poll is 1 of these. It is based on interviews with 1558 men and women aged 18 and older in 300 US localities. Approval of abortion rose from 75 to 81% between 1981 and 1983; while the proportion who said abortion should be illegal in all circumstances declined from 21 to 16%. The California Poll--a survey of Californians 18 and older--found a considerably higher proportion approving of "allowing abortion when a mother desires it during the first 3 months of pregnancy" than the Gallup Poll (69% versus 50%). 30% said they disapprove (compared with 43% in the Gallup Poll). As length of gestation increases, however, approval declines. The Iowa poll--a telephone survey of randomly selected Iowans aged 18 or older--found that 89% believe that all or some abortions should be legal. This represents a slight increase from 83% when the question was last asked in 1978. The National Opinion Research Center, in its most recent survey of 1599 adults 18 or older, found that between 1982 and 1983 there was an average decline of 6.5 percentage points in public support for legalabortions. A national poll undertaken by Penn and Schoen for The Garth Analysis was conducted among 1010 registered voters. The sample was weighted to match the US electorate by age, income, and sex. It found that 57% of voters "oppose a constitutional amendment to prohibit almost all abortions." The proportion opposed to such an amendment had declined, however, from 67% a year earlier; the proportion favoring an antiabortion amendment has risen from 28 to 36%. A majority oppose the cutting off of public funding of abortions for poor women. PMID:6667734

Gynecological complications occurring during the 7-day hospitalization following therapeutic abortion are studied on the basis of a series of 1234 patients treated between March 1965 and March 1969 in Berlin. There were 3 cases of complications due to preexistent disease (usually the indication for abortion) and 13 cases of nongenital complications (thrombophlebitis, thromboembolism, pneumonia, pyelitis). Gynecological complications included uterine perforation (13 cases), cervical tears (26 cases), uterine hemorrhage (18 cases), placental retention (12 cases), and inflammation (90 cases). Complications occurred less frequently with vacuum extraction (7.9%) than with classical instrumental methods (18.8%), and less frequently before the 12th week of pregnancy (14.7%) than thereafter (36.6%). To these complications must be added those which occur after the 1st postoperative week. The relatively high complication rate should be an incentive for the improvement of contraceptive services and technology. PMID:5555449

In Mexico City the Christian Women's Collective's open letter to the Catholic Church is a response to the Catholic bishops' threats of excommunication of lawmakers in Chiapas State, Mexico, who may have approved a bill legalizingabortion. The bishops maintain that God is a just and merciful God who loves women and suffers with them. The Collective cannot ignore the 2 million women, 1.72 million of whom are Catholics, who undergo illegal abortions annually in Mexico. They tend to be poor and in a union and to have large families. The Collective does not advocate abortion, but recognized that almost all women who have had an abortion were not at all happy to do so. Instead they suffer depression, solitude, shame, and pain. In addition to the moral punishment, these women are at high risk of dying (150,000-200,000 women die annually from illegal abortions). Economic circumstances, health problems, rape, and abandonment threaten their lives, so abortion is a last resort. The Collective maintains that the Catholic Church must understand that God empathized with women's pain, and in sending Jesus, has become one with humanity. The Church must seriously consider this sorrowful and very complex situation and reflect on the circumstances leading to abortion rather than condemn it. It must realize that by choosing abortion women want to avoid harm in those cases where pregnancy could cause death, avoid injustice when rape caused the pregnancy, or avoid giving birth to an infant that society or family cannot sustain. The present adverse and unjust situation contributing to unwanted pregnancy and illegal abortion is a social sin. The Catholic Church needs to build a new pastoral program with women at its center emphasizing sexuality, maternity, and contraception. Indeed, confronting the true social, moral, and political causes of abortion, and avoiding punishment, incarceration, or excommunication will resolve the issue. PMID:12178854

Unsafe abortion's significant contribution to maternal mortality and morbidity was a critical factor leading to liberalization of Nepal's restrictive abortion law in 2002. Careful, comprehensive planning among a range of multisectoral stakeholders, led by Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population, enabled the country subsequently to introduce and scale up safe abortion services in a remarkably short timeframe. This paper examines factors that contributed to rapid, successful implementation of legalabortion in this mountainous republic, including deliberate attention to the key areas of policy, health system capacity, equipment and supplies, and information dissemination. Important elements of this successful model of scaling up safe legalabortion include: the pre-existence of postabortion care services, through which health-care providers were already familiar with the main clinical technique for safe abortion; government leadership in coordinating complementary contributions from a wide range of public- and private-sector actors; reliance on public-health evidence in formulating policies governing abortion provision, which led to the embrace of medical abortion and authorization of midlevel providers as key strategies for decentralizing care; and integration of abortion care into existing Safe Motherhood and the broader health system. While challenges remain in ensuring that all Nepali women can readily exercise their legal right to early pregnancy termination, the national safe abortion program has already yielded strong positive results. Nepal's experience making high-quality abortion care widely accessible in a short period of time offers important lessons for other countries seeking to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity from unsafe abortion and to achieve Millennium Development Goals. PMID:22475782

Postabortion care providers who breach patient confidentiality endanger women’s health and violate ethics. A 1998 abortion ban in El Salvador likely spurred an increase in the number of women investigated, because many women were reported to legal authorities by health care providers. Having analyzed safeguards of confidentiality in laws and ethical guidelines, we obtained information from legal records on women prosecuted from 1998 to 2003 and identified factors that may lead to reporting through a survey of obstetrician-gynecologists (n=110). Although ethical and human rights standards oblige providers to respect patients’ privacy, 80% of obstetrician-gynecologists mistakenly believed reporting was required. Most respondents (86%) knew that women delay seeking care because of fear of prosecution, yet a majority (56%) participated in notification of legal authorities. PMID:16571690

Unsafe abortions remain a major public health problem in countries with very restrictive abortion laws. In Brazil, parliamentarians - who have the power to change the law - are influenced by "public opinion", often obtained through surveys and opinion polls. This paper presents the findings from two studies. One was carried out in February-December 2010 among 1,660 public servants and the other in February-July 2011 with 874 medical students from three medical schools, both in São Paulo State, Brazil. Both groups of respondents were asked two sets of questions to obtain their opinion about abortion: 1) under which circumstances abortion should be permitted by law, and 2) whether or not women in general and women they knew who had had an abortion should be punished with prison, as Brazilian law mandates. The differences in their answers were enormous: the majority of respondents were against putting women who have had abortions in prison. Almost 60% of civil servants and 25% of medical students knew at least one woman who had had an illegal abortion; 85% of medical students and 83% of civil servants thought this person(s) should not be jailed. Brazilian parliamentarians who are currently reviewing a reform in the Penal Code need to have this information urgently. PMID:24315072

If you are pregnant and near 40 years old there is 1/137 chance that your child may have Down's syndrome, or 1/65 chance he will have a physical or mental problem. There are tests that can indicate these problems but they increase the risk of spontaneous abortion. A woman should not be forced to carry an unwanted child, and the needs of childless couples should not be addressed in abortion discussions. The Roe v. Wade case made the distinction of not having to determine when life begins, but when it can be sustained outside the body. The Missouri statute states that human life begins at conception, an unborn child has protectable life interests and the parents of that child have protectable life interests of the unborn child in relation to life, health and its well being. States that are really concerned with the interests of unborn children should improve prenatal care, educate teens on contraception, AIDS, and be concerned about violent behavior and smoking. Voters in Michigan and Arkansas approved a law to stop the use of public funds for abortion, other than saving the mother's life. Pro- choice advocates are concerned that the conservative appointees to the supreme court will reverse the previous decision. PMID:10294684

Objective First trimester abortion was decriminalized in Mexico City in 2007. We studied client views of family planning services provided during abortion care at public facilities and acceptance of postabortion contraception. Methods We surveyed 402 clients seeking first trimester abortion care in Mexico City. We used logistic regression to test whether postabortion contraception varied by abortion visit characteristics or client sociodemographics. Results Most participants (81.6%) reported being offered contraception at their visit and 89.5% selected a contraceptive method postabortion, with 58.9% selecting the IUD. Surgical abortion clients were more likely to report being offered contraception than medical abortion clients (p

Abortion is illegal in Thailand unless the woman's health is at risk or pregnancy is due to rape. This study, carried out in 1999 in 787 government hospitals, examined the magnitude and profile of abortion in Thailand, using data collected prospectively through a review of 45,990 case records (of which 28.5% were classified as induced and 71.5% as spontaneous abortions)

Discussions with several groups of low-income, middle-aged women in various countries of Latin America showed that most disapproved of abortion. In the course of group discussions about the motives of women who seek abortions and the psychological and sanitary conditions under which abortion occurs, however, their disapproval became less categorical. They began to accept the need to decriminalize abortion in order to protect women. The majority, strongly influenced by the Catholic Church, believed that human life begins at conception. Others disapproved of abortion because they feared it would be used as a birth control method and would encourage promiscuity. Most disapproved of abortion for single women attempting to escape family or social censure of unmarried motherhood. Fear of health effects or death from abortion and fear of divine punishment were also mentioned. Recognition of the anguish and pain suffered by women deciding to seek abortion and the difficulty of providing for the material and other needs of many children were factors that led to reconsideration of the wholesale condemnation of abortion. The women realized that such condemnations never take the woman's circumstances into account. Some of the women felt that aborting an unwanted pregnancy would be preferable to abandoning or neglecting an unwanted child. Many of the women came to feel that abortion should be legalized at least under some circumstances. PMID:12348503

A sample of 208 pregnant women (78 before the voluntary termination of pregnancy, 63 admitted to hospital because of a threatened miscarriage, 67 at the outpatient clinic for a routine antenatal visit) performed a personality test (EPI) and two tests to evaluate psychological distress (SCL-90 and GHQ). The women who were about to abort exhibited a higher level of psychological

We use unique data on abortions performed in New York State from 1971–1975 to demonstrate that women travelled hundreds of miles for a legalabortion before Roe. A100- mile increase in distance for women who live approximately 183 miles from New York was associated with a decline in abortion rates of 12.2 percent whereas the same change for women who lived 830 miles from New York lowered abortion rates by 3.3 percent. The abortion rates of nonwhites were more sensitive to distance than those of whites. We found a positive and robust association between distance to the nearest abortion provider and teen birth rates but less consistent estimates for other ages. Our results suggest that even if some states lost all abortion providers due to legislative policies, the impact on population measures of birth and abortion rates would be small as most women would travel to states with abortion services. PMID:23811233

The rights of adolescents and young people in international law and agreements have evolved significantly from a focus on protection to a recognition of "evolving capacities" and decision-making ability. Unclear policies and regulations and variations in actual practice may leave providers with little clarity on how to support adolescent decision-making and instead create unintended barriers. This study in Mexico City in 2009 explored whether regulations and clinical attitudes and practice were supporting or hindering the access of adolescent girls aged 12-17 to information regarding abortion and to abortion services. We surveyed abortion clinic directors and staff, and adolescents arranging or just having had an abortion, and sent mystery clients to clinics to ask for information. While providers were generally positive about adolescents' ability to decide on abortion, they had different understandings about the need for adult accompaniment and who that adult should be, and mystery clients seeking information were more likely to receive complete information if accompanied by an adult. Clarification of consent and accompaniment requirements is needed, and providers need to be made aware of them; adolescents should have access to information and counselling without accompaniment; and improvements in privacy and confidentiality in public sector clinics are also needed. These all support complementary concepts of protection and autonomy in adolescent decision-making on abortion. PMID:23684199

Objectives. We examined the impact on patient safety if nurse practitioners (NPs), certified nurse midwives (CNMs), and physician assistants (PAs) were permitted to provide aspiration abortions in California. Methods. In a prospective, observational study, we evaluated the outcomes of 11?487 early aspiration abortions completed by physicians (n?=?5812) and newly trained NPs, CNMs, and PAs (n?=?5675) from 4 Planned Parenthood affiliates and Kaiser Permanente of Northern California, by using a noninferiority design with a predetermined acceptable risk difference of 2%. All complications up to 4 weeks after the abortion were included. Results. Of the 11?487 aspiration abortions analyzed, 1.3% (n?=?152) resulted in a complication: 1.8% for NP-, CNM-, and PA-performed aspirations and 0.9% for physician-performed aspirations. The unadjusted risk difference for total complications between NP–CNM–PA and physician groups was 0.87 (95% confidence interval [CI]?=?0.45, 1.29) and 0.83 (95% CI?=?0.33, 1.33) in a propensity score–matched sample. Conclusions. Abortion complications were clinically equivalent between newly trained NPs, CNMs, and PAs and physicians, supporting the adoption of policies to allow these providers to perform early aspirations to expand access to abortion care. PMID:23327244

Abortionlegalization in the early 1970s led to dramatic changes in fertility. Some research has suggested that it altered cohort outcomes, but this literature has been limited and controversial. In this paper, we provide ...

This review traces the discussion of abortion in the US through 10 of the best books published on the subject in the past 25 years. The first book considered is Daniel Callahan's "Abortion: Law, Choice and Morality," which was published in 1970. Next is book of essays also published in 1970: "The Morality of Abortion: Legal and Historical Perspectives," which was edited by John T. Noonan, Jr., who became a prominent opponent to the Roe decision. It is noted that Roman Catholics would find the essay by Bernard Haring especially interesting since Haring supported the Church's position on abortion but called for acceptance of contraception. Third on the list is historian James C. Mohr's review of "Abortion in America: The Origins and Evolution of National Policy," which was printed five years after the Roe decision. Selection four is "Enemies of Choice: The Right-to-Life Movement and Its Threat to Abortion" by Andrew Merton. This 1981 publication singled out a concern about sexuality as the overriding motivator for anti-abortion groups. Two years later, Beverly Wildung Harrison published a ground-breaking, feminist, moral analysis of abortion entitled "Our Right to Choose: Toward a New Ethic of Abortion. This was followed by a more empirical and sociopolitical feminist analysis in Kristin Luker's 1984 "Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood." The seventh book is by another feminist, Rosalind Pollack Petchesky, whose work "Abortion and Women's Choice: The State, Sexuality, and Reproductive Freedom" was first published in 1984 and reprinted in 1990. The eighth important book was "Abortion and Catholicism: The American Debate," edited by Thomas A. Shannon and Patricia Beattie Jung. Rounding out the list are the 1992 work "Life Itself: Abortion in the American Mind" by Roger Rosenblatt and Ronald Dworkin's 1993 "Life's Dominion: An Argument About Abortion, Euthanasia, and Individual Freedom." PMID:12178914

Under Peruvian law, abortion is illegal unless it is necessary to save the life of the mother. At the same time a woman can be imprisoned if she receives an illegal abortion. Yet, despite its illegality and the threat of punishment, there are over 350,000 illegal and clandestine abortions performed each year in Peru and nearly 65,000 of these women

Induced abortion and sexual sterilization are the most common contraceptive methods in the world today. There were an estimated 40 million abortions in 1979, notwithstanding the fact that Islamism, Catholicism, and Buddhism are strongly against the practice. Some international and powerful organizations, notably the IPPF, are trying to expand abortion and sterilization services in the third world, while in the countries of the socialist block abortion as a contraceptive measure is being slowly replaced by oral contraception. On the other hand, in North America, England, and in the Scandinavian countries abortion and sterilization are gradually replacing oral contraception as the most used method of fertility control. The number of abortions in France is now estimated to be 30-40/100 live births, a percentage that very probably underestimates the reality; in France the number of abortions is almost the same in rural and in urban areas. Modern and highly effective methods of contraception are still preferred to abortion and sterilization. It would seem important to warn women against the clinical dangers of repeated abortions, and against the psychological dangers of sterilization and against the banalization of both such radical procedures. The responsibility for such medical acts does not only belong to women or to couples and to physicians, but to politicians and to members of the legal professions. PMID:7455552

This study examines the association between religion and attitudes toward the practice of abortion and abortion policy in Brazil. Drawing upon data from the 2002 Brazilian Social Research Survey (BSRS), we test a number of hypotheses with regard to the role of religion on opposition to the practice of abortion and its legalization. Findings indicate that frequently attending Pentecostals demonstrate the strongest opposition to the practice of abortion and both frequently attending Pentecostals and Catholics demonstrate the strongest opposition to its legalization. Additional religious factors, such as a commitment to biblical literalism, were also found to be significantly associated with opposition to both abortion issues. Ultimately, the findings have implications for the future of public policy on abortion and other contentious social issues in Brazil. PMID:22303535

A number of questions relating to providing abortion information to teenagers can be raised from legal, ethical and philosophical standpoints. The purpose of this article is to examine abortion information-giving from the perspective of counseling and guidance theory and practice. (Author)

Since the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizingabortion, medical and scientific developments have focused greater public and professional attention on the status of the fetus. Their cumulative effect may influence legal, social, and moral thought and set the stage for a change in public opinion and a challenge to legalizedabortion. There is as yet no inexorable convergence of medical data and legal opinion that would undermine the rational of Roe v. Wade. But the prochoice movement must find room for an open airing of the moral questions if abortion is to remain what it should be--a legally acceptable act. PMID:3514547

In Sri Lanka, women do not have access to legalabortion except under life-saving circumstances. Clandestine abortion services are, however, available and quite accessible. Although safe specialist services are available to women who can afford them, others access services under unsafe and exploitative conditions. At the time of this writing, a draft bill that will legalizeabortion in instances of rape, incest, and fetal abnormalities awaits approval, amid opposition. In this article, I explore the current push for legal reform as a solution to unsafe abortion. Although a welcome effort, this amendment alone will be insufficient to address the public health consequences of unsafe abortion in Sri Lanka because most women seek abortions for other reasons. Much broader legal and policy reform will be required. PMID:23327236

Induced abortion is one of the most difficult sociomedical problems facing the Indonesian government. While well-known in traditional society, the practice was discouraged by all Indonesian religious groups, and forbidden by the Dutch colonial authorities. Although abortion was technically illegal under the criminal code, a judicial interpretation in the early 1970s permitted medical professionals to offer the procedure so long as they were discreet and careful. The numbers of medical abortions carried out in Indonesia rose dramatically, and there was evidence of matching declines in the incidence of morbidity and mortality caused by dangerous illegal procedures. Medical and community groups campaigned for a more liberal abortion law to protect legal practitioners and stamp out illegal traditional practices. Their efforts appeared to bear fruit in the draft Health Law, but when the law was passed by the legislature in late 1992, the issue was again clouded by contradictions and inconsistencies. PMID:8212094

In early 2010, the Nebraska state legislature passed a new abortion restricting law asserting a new, compelling state interest in preventing fetal pain. In this article, we review existing constitutional abortion doctrine and note difficulties presented by persistent legal attention to a socially derived viability construct. We then offer a substantive biological, ethical, and legal critique of the new fetal pain rationale. PMID:21561518

In Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, the US Supreme Court upheld all but 1 provision of Pennsylvania law that further restricts access to abortion. The law has a 24-hour waiting period, parental consent for minors with a judicial bypass, husband notification, and the circumstances of each abortion are to be reported to the state for statistical purposes. The Court overturned the husband notification provision even though it had a bypass procedure. The most important aspect of the decision was the change from the strict scrutiny in which abortion was to be left alone unless the state could show a compelling need to regulate it to an undue burden test in which the state is allowed to regulate abortion so long as it does not place an undue burden on women trying to seek abortion services. The 24-hour waiting period was upheld; however, it was also acknowledged that since 83% of women live in counties without abortion services, this may turn out to be an undue burden and it is open to review at later date when statistical evidence is available. The Opinion was written by Justices O'Connor, Kennedy, and Souter. Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Scalia, White, and Thomas dissented saying that the undue burden standard was unprecedented in constitutional law and undefinable in practice. It is likely now that the Court will begin writing abortion policy as it clarifies each specific point of the law rather than ruling on fundamental legal principles. PMID:1351612

National politics in the US, Poland, and Ireland have in recent years been afire with debate over abortion. Conflicting abortion laws almost scuttled the reunification of Germany. This paper describes how the abortion debate took hold in post-Communist Poland and how the issue came to be so entrenched in US politics in the wake of the US Supreme Court's 1973 decision on abortion in the case of Roe vs. Wade. It focuses upon abortion mainly as a method of birth control which women have always sought when needed regardless of the procedure's legal status. The controversies and campaigns recorded and the ideas offered focus upon women's access to affordable, safe, and legalabortion. The author argues that Poland is no place to be a woman and presents sections on the country's church, government, and medical profession; Roe vs. Wade; who opposes abortion rights and their broad success; the 1992 US presidential election; Bill Clinton's presidency; why the abortion debate has been different in Britain; and new issues on abortion. PMID:12290677

Global progress to reduce maternal deaths from unsafe abortion is inadequate. Clarifying abortion values and attitudes, using updated WHO safe abortion technical guidance, networking with other providers, and securing adequate abortion and contraceptive supplies can support providers to put induced abortion, postabortion care, and contraceptive skills into practice. Revised national guidelines based on updated WHO guidance can support women's healthcare providers to offer safe abortion for all legal indications and other measures to protect women's life and health. Recommendations of the United Nations and partner agencies can be used to support integration of abortion into other health programs, to expand provision of abortion care by midlevel providers, such as midwives, and to advocate for resources and results based on an expanded reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health Continuum of Care. Together, these efforts can generate concerted progress toward eliminating unsafe abortion, which is an entirely preventable cause of maternal mortality. PMID:23507550

Human rights protections have developed to resist governmental intrusion in private life and choices. Abortion laws have evolved in legal practice to protect not fetuses as such but state interests, particularly in prenatal life. National and international tribunals are increasingly called upon to resolve conflicts between state enforcement of continuation of pregnancy against women's wishes and women's reproductive choices. Legal

This study aimed at determining the knowledge and perception of physicians in Nigeria on abortion related deaths, and also to find out if they will support the liberalization of abortion as a means of reducing deaths from unsafe abortion. Physicians' willingness to offer abortion services was also explored. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to a convenience sample of physicians in Delta state of Nigeria. Physicians were equally divided on whether legal liberalization of abortion would significantly reduce maternal mortality in Nigeria. Only 13.4% of the doctors were willing to offer abortion services if legally liberalized. The majority of the doctors considered promoting abstinence from pre-marital sex and contraceptive use as best effective strategies for reducing abortion-related deaths. However, liberalization of abortion law in Nigeria was not considered a very effective strategy. PMID:20636247

This article gives an overview of what is known about second trimester abortions in India, including the reasons why women seek abortions in the second trimester, the influence of abortion law and policy, surgical and medical methods used, both safe and unsafe, availability of services, requirements for second trimester service delivery, and barriers women experience in accessing second trimester services. Based on personal experiences and personal communications from other doctors since 1993, when I began working as an abortion provider, the practical realities of second trimester abortion and case histories of women seeking second trimester abortion are also described. Recommendations include expanding the cadre of service providers to non-allopathic clinicians and trained nurses, introducing second trimester medical abortion into the public health system, replacing ethacridine lactate with mifepristone-misoprostol, values clarification among providers to challenge stigma and poor treatment of women seeking second trimester abortion, and raising awareness that abortion is legal in the second trimester and is mostly not requested for reasons of sex selection. PMID:18772082

The author discusses the characteristics and feelings of women undergoing abortion. She mentions the decisions which counselors must help such women face, the information they must be given, and the types of support they need. Increased counseling services are needed, she feels, for the markedly increased number of women seeking abortions. (EK)

... pregnancy resulted after a traumatic event such as rape or incest The woman may not wish to ... American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Clinical management guidelines of obstetrician-gynecologists. Medical management of abortion. Obstet Gynecol . 2005 ...

Legal, procedural, and institutional restrictions on safe abortion services—such as laws forbidding the practice or policies preventing donors from supporting groups who provide legal services—remain a major access barrier for women worldwide. However, even when abortion services are legal, women face social and cultural barriers to accessing safe abortion services and preventing unwanted pregnancy. Interpersonal communication interventions play an important

National and international courts and tribunals are increasingly ruling that although states may aim to deter unlawful abortion by criminal penalties, they bear a parallel duty to inform physicians and patients of when abortion is lawful. The fear is that women are unjustly denied safe medical procedures to which they are legally entitled, because without such information physicians are deterred from involvement. With particular attention to the European Court of Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Committee, the Constitutional Court of Colombia, the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal, and the US Supreme Court, decisions are explained that show the responsibility of states to make rights to legalabortion transparent. Litigants are persuading judges to apply rights to reproductive health and human rights to require states' explanations of when abortion is lawful, and governments are increasingly inspired to publicize regulations or guidelines on when abortion will attract neither police nor prosecutors' scrutiny. PMID:17889879

Background & objectives: Medical abortion though legalized in India, is still not very popular. A disadvantage of medical abortion is the longer duration of bleeding compared with surgical abortion which may reduce acceptability. Due consideration needs to be given to the issues related to medical abortion for improving the reproductive health status of women suffering from consequences of unsafe and

Abortion was made legal on request in Mongolia in 1989, following the collapse of the socialist regime, and later bound by a range of regulations. Concerned about the high number of abortions and inadequate quality of care in abortion services, the Ministry of Health applied the World Health Organization's Strategic Approach to issues related to abortion and contraception in 2003.

Because of psychological reactions in the nursing staff working with abortion patients, mental health consultations were requested by several hospitals in Hawaii after abortion became legal. Many of the nurses had strong emotional reactions to the abortion work. They reacted more strongly to saline abortions than to suction curettage because of the similarity to actual labor. Many of the nurses had trouble switching roles from traditional obstetric nurses to working with abortion patients. The authors concluded that "it is crucial to include nurses in the policy making processes... The option of not working on abortion cases must be kept open." Abortion cases should be segregated from general maternity cases to help avoid some of the conflicts in nursing care. The emphasis should be on first trimester abortions for medical and psychological reasons. More research is needed on the woman's attitude toward abortion and pregnancy, with special reference to delay in discovering pregnancy. PMID:5558613

After the fall of Communism in Poland, the Catholic church exerted pressure to increase its influence in public life. One way in which this pressure has manifested itself has been in the passing of a restrictive abortion bill which was signed into law on February 15, 1993. Abortion had been legalized in Poland in 1956 and was used as a means of birth control because of a lack of availability and use of contraceptives. The number of abortions performed was variously reported as 60,000 - 300,000/year. In 1990, the Ministry of Health imposed restrictions on abortions at publicly funded hospitals, and 3 deaths were reported from self-induced abortions. In 1 year (1989-90), the number of induced abortions at 1 hospital dropped from 71 to 19, while the number of self-induced abortions increased from 48 to 85. Further restrictions were introduced in May 1992 as part of the "Ethical Code for Physicians," which allows abortions only in cases where the mother's life or health is in danger or in cases or rape. This code brought abortions to a halt at publicly funded hospitals and doubled or even tripled the cost of private abortions. Women have been refused abortions in tragic and life=threatening situations since the code was adopted. When an outright anti family planning bill was drafted in November 1992, the Polish citizenry collected 1,300,000 signatures to force a referendum. The referendum was not held, but the bill was defeated. The amended bill which passed allows abortions in publicly funded hospitals only when the mother's life or health is in danger and in cases of rape, incest, or incurable deformity of the fetus. The implications of this law remain unclear, since its language is strange and vague. The reproductive rights of Polish women face a further threat because the Catholic church is working to limit the availability of contraceptive methods which they deem to be "early abortives." On the other side of the issue, the Federation for Women and Planned Parenthood was established in 1992 and presently has 9 member organizations dedicated to reestablishing legalabortion and to helping women avoid unwanted pregnancies through sex education and contraception. Polls show that the new abortion law dose not reflect the favorable attitude of a majority of the Polish people toward legalabortion. It is unfortunate that Polish women will now have to fight for the rights that were once given to them. PMID:12287103

The 2 primary sources of data on the number of abortions performed in the US--the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI)--provide conflicting information on abortion trends. According to CDC, the number of abortions performed in the US declined between 1982 and 1983 for the first time since record keeping began in 1969. The AGI showed a slight increase in these two years, an increase that has continued through 1985. However, both of these sources show that the rapid increase in abortions experienced during the 1970s has levelled off and the ratio of abortions to births and to pregnancies has declined. Political opposition to abortion may have produced a reluctance on the part of providers to report data on abortions performed, thus accounting for the lower CDC estimate. Possible explanations for a levelling off of abortion rates and ratios in recent years include improved ability to prevent unwanted pregnancies, a greater tendency to carry unwanted pregnancies to term, and a decline in the availability of abortions due to economic and political pressures. The number of abortion providers identified by AGI has dropped from a peak of 2908 in 1982 to 2680 in 1985. The characteristics of women seeking abortions have also changed. Women who obtained legalabortions in 1983 were more likely to be unmarried, black, and over age 20 years than their 1973 counterparts. Also, women in 1983 were more likely to seek abortion in the first 10 weeks and to use abortion to prevent a first birth than in 1973. PMID:12268741

In 1991, 4158 women from Ireland and 1766 from Northern Ireland traveled to England for abortions. This situation has been ignored by Irish authorities. The 1992 case of the 14-year old seeking an abortion in England finally caught legal attention. This study attempts to help define who these abortion seekers are. Questionnaires from 200 Irish abortion seeking women attending private Marie Stopes clinics in London and the British Pregnancy Advisory Services clinic in Liverpool between September 1988 and December 1990 were analyzed. Findings pertain to demographic characteristics, characteristics of first intercourse, family discussion of sexual activity, and contraceptive use. From this limited sample, it appears that Irish women are sexually reserved and without access to modern methods of birth control and abortion. Sex is associated with shame and guilt. 23% had intercourse before the age of 18 years and 42% after the age of 20. 76% were single and 16% were currently married. 95% were Catholic; 33% had been to church the preceding Sunday and 68% within the past month. Basic information about menstruation is also limited and procedures such as dilatation and curettage may be performed selectively. 28% of married women were uninformed about menstruation prior to its onset. Only 24% had been using birth control around the time of pregnancy. The reason for nonuse was frequently the unexpectedness of intercourse. 62% of adults and 66% of women believe in legalizingabortion in Ireland. British groups have tried to break through the abortion information ban by sending telephone numbers of abortion clinics to Irish firms for distribution to employees. On November 25, 1992, in the general election, there was approval of constitutional amendments guaranteeing the right to travel for abortions and to receive information on abortion access. The amendment to allow abortion to save the life of the mother was not accepted. PMID:1483530

There is a difference between ethics and morals. Morality represents an absolute, whereas ethics and ethical behavior are decided by a cultural consensus. Legality equates with ethical but not necessarily moral behavior. Even 1, such as a clergyman, who believes that killing is wrong morally can and should participate in counseling women regarding abortion. For 1 reason, it is a decision to be made by the woman involved not by the clergyman who has never stood in her position. Secondly, humans live in this world and are sinful. They can strive for perfection without achieving it. The church can state that abortion is immoral, even when it is the only or the best solution in certain circumstances. The church must also offer forgiveness if an individual chooses abortion. PMID:10236747

A story is recounted of how 1 physician, trained for and concerned about the preservation of life and health, dealt with question of voluntary abortion. Abortion is easy and safe, and if accomplished with all of the modern medical safeguards, abortion in the 1st 3 months of gestation is 10 times safer for a woman than continuing through a normal pregnancy and delivery. abortion from 13 weeks onwards is at least as safe as having a normal pregnancy and delivery. Thus, it is a medical fact that abortion does not exact a penalty from the woman. If she makes the decision early and is aborted in the 1st trimester, her safety is enhanced. This is the reasoning that influenced the justices of the Supreme Court of the US to arrive at the landmark decisions that now are law. If everyone agreed with what is legal and justifiable, this discussion would not bt taking place. Responsible people differ widely in their response to the questions of whether a fetus can be considered alive and is a fetus entitled to the same protection as that afforded any living person. A logical starting place is the moment of conception. Some people have argued that conception alone is not enough and that the conceptus cannot be considered "human" until implantation occurs. Various timetables have been suggested. 1 is that the fetus becomes "human" and assumes rights when it develops a human appearance. Another proposal is that the detection of fetal electrical brain activity be taken as a landmark. In traditional Judaism, a conceptus of up to 40 days has been considered to be nothing but an amorphous fluid. Temporally, the the next possible criterion for the assumption of rights by the fetus could be fetal movement. Viability, the ability of the fetus to survive if separated from the mother, has also been proposed as a criterion for granting rights to the fetus. All of these suggest that to define "human life" results not in an absolute truth but in answers which change with time, culture, technical ability, and even with underlying motivation. This physician can defend to himself that any woman has a right toprotect herself against the dangers of childbearing, that such risks can only be assumed voluntarily, and that this position has traditional roots. But the ethical questions continue. A society's desire for population increase should not be enforced upon the bodies of its women. This physician concurs with the judicial decision that society's interest in abortion should be confined to insuring the safety of the procedure and to treating abortion equally with all other medical procedures. At the same time abortion poses professional ethical problems for the physician. Such problems should be resolved privately between the physician and the patient. PMID:6608671

During the period between 1977 and the first quarter of 1988, 35 countries liberalized their abortion laws and four countries limited grounds for the procedure. Most legislation has extended abortion eligibility through traditional indications such as danger to maternal health or fetal handicap, but a number of other indications have been created such as adolescence, advanced maternal age, family circumstances, and AIDS or HIV infection. A number of countries have redesigned their abortion laws as part of a comprehensive package to facilitate access to and delivery of contraception, voluntary sterilization, and abortion services. Abortion litigation has increased and stimulated the liberalization of abortion provisions and the support of women's autonomous choice within the law. In Canada, the entire criminal prohibition of abortion was held unconstitutional for violating women's integrity and security. In contrast, Latin American and other constitutional developments may limit legalabortion to instances of danger to women's lives. PMID:3048126

Sporadic spontaneous abortion has been accorded relatively little scientific attention but has widespread prevalence and great personal impact. The physician must be continually vigilant to consider possibilities for Rh0(D) sensitization and offer prophylaxis when appropriate. The most immediate problems include differential diagnosis, haemorrhage, and infection, while later issues focus on counselling and subsequent pregnancies. Serious physical and psychological morbidity can be averted by the conscientious care of couples experiencing spontaneous pregnancy loss. PMID:3086012

Abortion has been legalized in Nepal since September 2002 by 11th amendment to the Muluki Ain. The present study was conducted in Paropakar Shree Panch Indra Rajya Laxmi Devi Maternity Hospital to assess the magnitude of induced abortion, its causes and the types of complications, in the post legalization phase. Prospective descriptive analyses of the patients who were admitted with history of induced abortion from 16th Dec 2003 to 13th March 2004 was carried out. A total of 305 cases of abortion complications were admitted during the three-month study period, which is 39.7% of the total gynaecological admissions (768). Of these 31 (10.25%) patients had history of induced abortion. Half of the induced abortion cases (52%) were of age group 21-29 yrs and 42% had three or more children. 39% of the cases had history of induced abortion at more than 12 weeks and almost half of the cases (48%) had history of family planning. The most common reason for seeking abortion was too many children (59%) followed by illegitimate pregnancy (16%). Twenty-one patients gave history of abortion being performed by doctors and the most common method used was D and C (75%). 77% of cases presented as incomplete abortion and one case presented with uterine perforation, bowel injury and peritonitis. Twenty patients had evacuation under sedation while five had manual vacuum aspiration (MVA); one patient required laparatomy. In two third of the patients intravenous fluid and antibiotics were used. Four patients required blood transfusion. Abortion complications constitute almost 40% of the total gynaecological admissions. Ten percent of the abortion cases had history of induced abortion. Medical persons, mainly doctors, performed most of the cases of induced abortion and D and C was the most commonly used method. However the patients had faced various types of complications. Untrained provider, resulting in serious life threatening injuries, performed more than a third of the cases of induced abortion at more than twelve weeks gestation. This points to the need for improved monitoring of the quality of services provided, and adherence to the criteria set by the procedural order. PMID:15821380

Background Abortion is a serious public health issue, and it poses high risks to the health and life of women. Yet safe abortion services are not readily available because few doctors are trained to provide such services. Many doctors are unaware of laws pertaining to abortion. This article reports survey findings on Malaysian medical students’ attitudes toward abortion education and presents a case for including abortion education in medical schools. Methods and Results A survey on knowledge of and attitudes toward abortion among medical students was conducted in two public universities and a private university in Malaysia in 2011. A total of 1,060 students returned the completed questionnaires. The survey covered about 90% of medical students in Years 1, 3, and 5 in the three universities. About 90% of the students wanted more training on the general knowledge and legal aspects of abortion, and pre-and post-abortion counseling. Overall, 75.9% and 81.0% of the students were in favor of including in medical education the training on surgical abortion techniques and medical abortion, respectively. Only 2.4% and 1.7% were opposed to the inclusion of training of these two methods in the curriculum. The remaining respondents were neutral in their stand. Desire for more abortion education was associated with students’ pro-choice index, their intention to provide abortion services in future practice, and year of study. However, students’ attitudes toward abortion were not significantly associated with gender, type of university, or ethnicity. Conclusions Most students wanted more training on abortion. Some students also expressed their intention to provide abortion counseling and services in their future practice. Their desire for more training on abortion should be taken into account in the new curriculum. Abortion education is an important step towards making available safe abortion services to enable women to exercise their reproductive rights. PMID:23300600

Although abortion remains legal and available to women, access to services is limited by restrictive factors such as parental consent and notification laws, mandatory delay requirements, insurance regulations\\/bans, and postviability testing requirements. This study employed a hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) with all states over a six-year period 1988-2000. It found the variable parental consent statistically significant. Consistent with its focus

This paper describes the trend in the risk of spontaneous abortion in Italy from 1974 to 1995. There was a dramatic decline in the risk after the law that legalized induced abortion was passed in 1978, which implies that probably many induced abortions performed before 1978 were registered as spontaneous abortions. Data for 1991 have been extracted from the Italian

We describe five pitfalls of medical abortion: ectopic pregnancy not terminated after misoprostol, but without negative side-effects; long-term vaginal blood loss with suspicious retained products which disappeared spontaneously; a patient with uterus myomatatosus with severe pain and retained products in the uterus; repetition of misoprostol because of retained products in the uterus after two weeks and an allergic reaction to methotrexate. Despite these pitfalls, there are enough benefits to consider medical abortion with methotrexate and misoprostol as a safe method with a high success rate of more than 91% and a good alternative for surgical abortion. An invasive procedure is not necessary, there are no long-term complications and it can be performed at an earlier stage, which makes it more acceptable in society. In Curaçao, where abortion is legally restricted, medical abortion is performed with methotrexate and misoprostol. In countries where abortion is legal, mifepristone and misoprostol are the first choice. PMID:20583695

This article presents the history and grounds of the official position of the Roman Catholic Church that abortion under any circumstances, including abortion to save the life of the mother, should be prohibited. After an introduction that deplores the lack of mercy shown to killers of abortionists while Catholic priests threatened by pro-abortion forces are not offered protection, the article traces the historic development of the Catholic abortion policy and rebuts arguments that abortion was permitted in the early Christian Church. The next section explains Catholic views on the personhood of a conceptus and refutes the contentions of Joseph Donceel that early abortion should be permitted because of uncertainty about the nature of the conceptus and the possibility of delayed animation. The fourth section of the paper debates the points raised by Susan Teft Nicholson who maintains that the Catholic position regarding abortion rests on the Church's animosity towards sexual pleasure. The paper goes on to criticize Nicholson's claims that the Roman Catholic position on abortion is inconsistent with the Church's own understanding of the Principle of Double Effect because the Church fails to allow abortion in many cases where it would be permissible under the Principle. Section 6 describes the underlying motive of the Roman Catholic Church's abortion position as an attempt to protect the innocent fetus from deliberate death and to justify the Church's application of protection from deliberate killing to those who are innocent of aggressive action. This discussion is followed by a justification of the Church's prohibition of abortion in cases of aggression, such as the aggression ascribed to a fetus when a pregnancy imperials the life of a mother. It is concluded that the US will likely legalize suicide and mercy killing as it has the killing of innocent fetuses who are probably ensouled with personhood and are not formal aggressors. PMID:12348326

We use panel data from 1983 to 1997 for the 42 police force areas in England and Wales to test the hypothesis that legalizingabortion contributes to lower crime rates. We provide an advance on previous work by focusing on the impact of possible endogeneity of effective abortion rates with respect to crime. Our use of U.K. data allows us

The Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, which held that women have a federal constitutional right to an abortion, has generated considerable controversy. The abortion issue became politically significant in the 1960's, when, emboldened by the Supreme court's recognition of a constitutionally based right of privacy, activists initiated a series of legal challenges to the validity of state

Background: Though the Penal Code of Pakistan makes provision for abortion if the life of the mother is endan- gered, yet the fact that no data is available concerning legally induced therapeutic abortion, indicates restrictive interpretation of the law by the medical profession. There is considerable difference of opinion regarding med- ical indication for termination of pregnancy among practicing gynecologists

Donohue and Levitt have applied the selective incapacitation hypothesis to account for what they contend is a latent function of the Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade to legalizeabortion—the decline in the crime rate during the 1990s. They contend that abortion, insofar as it removes recidivists from the population before they are born, has the compositional effect

How responsive are political lawmakers to an abortion issue that is potentially less salient to the public or in the media? Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (or TRAP) laws impose physical plant and personnel regulations and requirements on abortion providers that exceed those imposed on other comparable health care providers or outpatient medical facilities. Using event history analysis, this article

Introduction: Despite its legalization, abortion remains a controversial issue, one that has many divided on either side of the political spectrum. While there have been several changes made to abortion policy over the past few decades, one that continues to have many asking questions is the Woman’s Right to Know Act, a piece of state imposed abortion legislation that has

The literature base pertaining to abortion decision-making and adjustment has grown substantially since legalization of abortion in the U.S. 30 years ago. However, the available research has suffered from various theoretical and methodological shortcomings and the findings do not seem to do justice to the complexity of abortion experiences among women residing in a cultural context that continues to exhibit

Thirty years ago the U.S. Supreme Court first determined that abortion was a right inherent in our Constitution. That decision, , gave women the right to obtain legalabortions in circumstances in which their lives were not endangered by their pregnancies. A reason cited for the decision was that modern aseptic technique and antibiotics made it possible for abortions to

I combine fertility histories from the 2006 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey with a census of newly introduced legalabortion centers to estimate the impact of reducing the cost of abortion on pregnancy outcomes, gender, and neonatal health. Contrary to previous studies, I identify the within-mother, behavioral response to improved access to abortion by comparing siblings conceived before and after

The “Paulina case” is the story of a 13-year-old girl in Mexico who became pregnant in 1999 after being raped. Although she received permission to obtain a legalabortion, the hospital convinced her mother through misleading information to decline the abortion. This case has become an almost obligatory point of reference when abortion is discussed in Mexico. This paper analyses

The document describes research on womens' attitudes toward abortion and their decision-making when pregnant leading to either birth or abortion. The objective was "to explore how womens' perceptions of the option of legalabortion have affected their pregnancy decision-making behavior" and to note the impact of their particular choices on their…

Abortion stigma is widely acknowledged in many countries, but poorly theorised. Although media accounts often evoke abortion stigma as a universal social fact, we suggest that the social production of abortion stigma is profoundly local. Abortion stigma is neither natural nor ‘essential’ and relies upon power disparities and inequalities for its formation. In this paper, we identify social and political

A practicing physician reviews the contribution of Jewish ethics, as it relates to the structure of Jewish law, to the issue of abortion. The topics approached include the status of the fetus, the relationship of fetus to mother, abortion and murder, therapeutic abortion, and the rights of the mother. The discussion describes rabbinic answers to abortion requests and is followed

eens who abort are up to 4 times more likely to commit suicide than adults who abort eens who abort are up to 4 times more likely to commit suicide than adults who abort eens who abort are up to 4 times more likely to commit suicide than adults who abort eens who abort are up to 4 times more

This article grew out of a keynote address prepared for the conference, "From Abortion to Contraception: Public Health Approaches to Reducing Unwanted Pregnancy and Abortion Through Improved Family Planning Services," held in Tbilisi, Georgia, USSR in October 1990. The article reviews the legal, religious, and medical situation of induced abortion in Europe in historical perspective, and considers access to abortion services, attitudes of health professionals, abortion incidence, morbidity and mortality, the new antiprogestins, the characteristics of abortion seekers, late abortions, postabortion psychological reactions, effects of denied abortion, and repeat abortion. Special attention is focused on the changes occurring in Romania, Albania, and the former Soviet Union, plus the effects of the new conservatism elsewhere in the formerly socialist countries of central and eastern Europe, particularly Poland. Abortion is a social reality that can no more be legislated out of existence than the controversy surrounding it can be stilled. No matter how effective family planning services and practices become, there will always be a need for access to safe abortion services. PMID:1557791

OBJECTIVES: In 2 successive decades since 1967, legal accommodation of abortion has grown in many countries. The objective of this study was to assess whether liberalizing trends have been maintained in the last decade and whether increased protection of women's human rights has influenced legal reform. METHODS: A worldwide review was conducted of legislation and judicial rulings affecting abortion, and legal reforms were measured against governmental commitments made under international human rights treaties and at United Nations conferences. RESULTS: Since 1987, 26 jurisdictions have extended grounds for lawful abortion, and 4 countries have restricted grounds. Additional limits on access to legalabortion services include restrictions on funding of services, mandatory counseling and reflection delay requirements, third-party authorizations, and blockades of abortion clinics. CONCLUSIONS: Progressive liberalization has moved abortion laws from a focus on punishment toward concern with women's health and welfare and with their human rights. However, widespread maternal mortality and morbidity show that reform must be accompanied by accessible abortion services and improved contraceptive care and information. PMID:10191808

Stigma discredits individuals, communities, and institutions and marks them as inferior. The stigma surrounding abortion plays a critical role in its social, medical, and legal marginalization around the world. Based on the existing field of knowledge, in June 19, 2012, researchers, practitioners, and advocates from 11 countries participated in an intensive meeting on abortion stigma to refine a conceptual framework for abortion stigma and set a future learning agenda to guide research and programmatic efforts to address abortion stigma. PMID:25062399

... allow the adopting parents to pay the birth mother’s legal and medical fees. Some states allow other fees and expenses to be paid, such as counseling. However, it is not legal for anyone to make money from an adoption. If I am considering abortion, what should I know about my state’s laws? ...

In both the Republic of Ireland and the North of Ireland, it is impossible to obtain a legalabortion unless the life of the mother would otherwise be lost. Thus, an estimated 10-12,000 women travel from Ireland to England each year to have an abortion. These women can receive support from the Irish Women's Abortion Support Group (IWASG) which is made up of volunteer women who are Irish or of Irish descent. The IWASG provides accommodations, emotional and practical support, and information about how to obtain an abortion in the UK. It makes appointments, negotiates fees, and monitors services offered. The group can also provide financial assistance to women in need. IWASG liaises with pro-choice groups in Ireland, such as the underground Women's Information Network (WIN), which has branches in Dublin, Galway, and Cork. WIN provides confidential, nondirective counseling to women in need. Abortion is a very difficult choice for Irish women because of the legal strictures and because of the guilt which often results from government and religious propaganda. The prospect of finding their way around London is often as daunting to the Irish women as the procedure itself, and many of the women travel to England absolutely alone with no one at home even aware of what they are doing. IWASG is seeking new members to help them support these women. For information, write IWASG, 52 Featherstone Street, London ECIY 8RT. PMID:12222519

This paper discusses issues of legalabortion and women's rights in the US. Abortion has been a political issue since the 1970s in the US. Following the Supreme Court's decision in the case of Roe vs. Wade, conservatives and liberals were divided based on their stand on abortion laws. Moreover, gender affects the range of opinions. Gender gap in abortion attitudes is most evident among conservatives. Conservative and extremely conservative women are against legalabortion more strongly than men with those same political views. Liberal and extremely liberal women have about the same amount of support for legalabortion as liberal men do. Labor force participation, marriage, education, and religion have impact on women and men's attitudes toward abortion; yet none of these explain the politicization of abortion. The change in support for legalabortion by political views and time period (1974-93) is shown in this paper. Women's rights are at the core when issues on abortion are to be discussed; the circumstances of the pregnancy and not the fetus become the focus. Although some women¿s groups support this stand, it faces a continuing debate with pro-life groups. The prevailing ideologies attempt to accommodate the new ideas expressed by the movement, while some of its stronger views are tempered in order to win a measure of political success. PMID:12349270

The period total first abortion rate (TFAR) has been used to estimate the proportion of women who will experience an induced abortion in their reproductive lifetime. It is a hypothetical measure as age-specific rates currently existing will change with time. Instead, a cohort TFAR has been calculated for women born around 1955 using legal-abortion reports in South Australia to calculate first abortion rates for each year of age from 15 years to 44 years for 1971-2000, respectively, and summing these. Yearly fertility rates were also calculated for this cohort to further describe their reproductive experience. Yearly first abortion rates were also calculated for later cohorts born in 1960-1980. The 1955 cohort TFAR was 288.1 per 1,000 women aged 15-44 years. Cumulative first abortion rates at specific ages were higher for subsequent cohorts (e.g., 309.6 per 1,000 at age 40 years for the 1960 cohort). Thus, about 29% of South Australian women born around 1955 and exposed to legalabortion throughout their reproductive lifetime experienced an induced abortion. This proportion would be higher for later cohorts of women born in 1960-1980 (e.g., at least 31% for those born in 1960). PMID:14977643

In countries where induced abortion is legally restricted, as in most of Latin America, evaluation of statistics related to induced abortions and abortion-related mortality is challenging. The present article reexamines recent reports estimating the number of induced abortions and abortion-related mortality in Mexico, with special reference to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). We found significant overestimations of abortion figures in the Federal District of Mexico (up to 10-fold), where elective abortion has been legal since 2007. Significant overestimation of maternal and abortion-related mortality during the last 20 years in the entire Mexican country (up to 35%) was also found. Such overestimations are most likely due to the use of incomplete in-hospital records as well as subjective opinion surveys regarding induced abortion figures, and due to the consideration of causes of death that are unrelated to induced abortion, including flawed denominators of live births. Contrary to previous publications, we found important progress in maternal health, reflected by the decrease in overall maternal mortality (30.6%) from 1990 to 2010. The use of specific ICD codes revealed that the mortality ratio associated with induced abortion decreased 22.9% between 2002 and 2008 (from 1.48 to 1.14 deaths per 100,000 live births). Currently, approximately 98% of maternal deaths in Mexico are related to causes other than induced abortion, such as hemorrhage, hypertension and eclampsia, indirect causes, and other pathological conditions. Therefore, only marginal or null effects would be expected from changes in the legal status of abortion on overall maternal mortality rates. Rather, maternal health in Mexico would greatly benefit from increasing access to emergency and specialized obstetric care. Finally, more reliable methodologies to assess abortion-related deaths are clearly required. PMID:23271925

In 1993, a restrictive abortion law was enacted in Poland. The law allows abortion in public hospitals when 3 physicians certify that the life or health of the woman is at stake, the fetus has a serious and irreversible malformation (supported by prenatal tests in cases of known history of genetic conditions), or a public prosecutor formally proves that a criminal act (i.e., rape or incest) caused the pregnancy. Physicians who perform illegal abortions can be imprisoned up to 2 years and, in cases where the woman dies from complications, up to 10 years. The law calls for the government to offer sex education and to guarantee access to contraceptives nationwide, to which the Catholic Bishops object. Schools have yet to implement sex education. Interviews show that much political and governmental instability exists in Poland. Politicians tend to be passive to prevent political conflict and reduce tensions with the Catholic Church. Women who have enough money and have an unwanted pregnancy can still obtain an abortion within Poland or across the border. Infanticide and infant abandonment are increasing. Illegal adoption is occurring. No one has been arrested for performing clandestine abortions. Young, poor, and rural women are confused and anxious. Many physicians fear referring women for legalabortions. Some hospitals refuse to allow any abortion. Poland is still a patriarchal, conservative country. Most women who use birth control use the rhythm method and withdrawal. Counseling centers are closing. Public educational resources are scarce. Recorded miscarriages have risen from 51,802 in 1992 to 53,027 in 1993. The Ministries of Health and Justice object to the new law. In 1994, the president vetoed a law that would have allowed abortions on social grounds. The birth rate fell from 13.4 to 12.8 births/1000 between 1992 and 1993. The public now ranks the Church behind the military, the police, and the government ombudsman in public trust. PMID:7985218

In light of liberalized abortion legislation, the author considers the potential for increased 3rd-trimester abortion rates in England. The paper refers specifically to the Human Fertilization and Embryology Bill passed by the House of Lords on October 18, 1990. The Bill allows abortion during the 1st 24 weeks of pregnancy if risk is posed to the mother or existing children's physical or mental health. The 24-week limit is not, however, applicable when the mother is a risk of grave permanent injury or death, or in the case of substantial risk of serious handicap in the child. 3rd-trimester abortion rates will not change in the former cases, while the latter involve more complex ethics and decision-making on the part of the mother and obstetrician. While screening for malformation should provide relatively definite diagnoses within 24 weeks, some structural abnormalities may only be discovered incidentally much later in term. Incurable, yet not necessarily lethal conditions such as osteochondrodysplasias, central nervous system malformation, inborn errors of metabolism, and chromosomal anomalies may present intervention dilemmas, yet remain legal grounds for abortion within the 24-week period at the wish of the mother. 3rd-trimester abortion, however, demands consideration of the expected severity of physical and mental impairment,the child's life expectation, gestation at diagnosis, the mother's obstetric history, and that active steps such as intra-cardiac injection will be needed to kill the fetus. The pediatrician, geneticist, or surgeon are recommended for inclusion in counseling. Finally, comparing England's 1989 experience with 3rd- trimester abortions to Scotland's, where restrictive legislation has not been in effect, abortion law liberalization is not expected to extensively increase the number of late terminations. PMID:2252917

This document summarizes a sample of significant activities and events undertaken by Roman Catholics in response to the US Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing induced abortion. The summaries begin with the 1966 creation of the National Right to Life Committee and cover opposition of Catholic bishops to the Roe decision, the organization of the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment (NCHLA), the mock investiture of a female pope by Catholics for a Free Choice, dismissal of a pro-life priest from the Jesuits, excommunication of various women because of their work with pro-choice agencies or ones that provided abortion services, meetings of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) with presidential candidates, NCHLA lobbying for the Hyde Amendment, open letters and advertisements published by CFC, the effort of Abortion Rights Mobilization to strip the Catholic church of its tax-exempt status, the Vatican order for all priests to leave political office, actions taken by nuns to support the pro-choice position, the proposal of the "seamless garment" argument under the principle of the "consistent ethic of life," initiation of the post-abortion reconciliation project, the actions of Catholic politicians, the filing of amicus curiae briefs, support of bishops for Operation Rescue, forums on abortion conducted by an Archbishop, the Catholic Statement on Pluralism and Abortion, targeting by bishops of pro-choice candidates for sanctions and excommunication, testimony and lobbying in opposition of the Freedom of Choice Act, false accusations about the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development leveled by bishops, lobbying by bishops in support of a ban on late-term abortions, lobbying to increase the access of low-income women to abortion, and consideration by the bishops of reinstituting "meatless Fridays" to express Catholic opposition to "attacks on human life and dignity." PMID:12178893

While laws in Uganda surrounding abortion remain contradictory, a frequent interpretation of the law is that abortion is only allowed to save the woman's life. Nevertheless abortion occurs frequently under unsafe conditions at a rate of 54 abortions per 1000 women of reproductive age annually, taking a large toll on women's health. There are an estimated 148,500 women in Uganda who experience abortion complications annually. Understanding opinion leaders' knowledge and perceptions about unsafe abortion is critical to identifying ways to address this public health issue. We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 41 policy-makers, cultural leaders, local politicians and leaders within the health care sector in 2009-10 at the national as well as district (Bushenyi, Kamuli and Lira) level to explore their knowledge and perceptions of unsafe abortion and the potential for policy to address this issue. Only half of the sample knew the current law regulating abortion in Uganda. Respondents understood that the result of the current abortion restrictions included long-term health complications, unwanted children and maternal death. Perceived consequences of increasing access to safe abortion included improved health as well as overuse of abortion, marital conflict and less reliance on preventive behaviour. Opinion leaders expressed the most support for legalization of abortion in cases of rape when the perpetrator was unknown. Understanding opinion leaders' perspectives on this politically sensitive topic provides insight into the policy context of abortion laws, drivers behind maintaining the status quo, and ways to improve provision under the law: increase education among providers and opinion leaders. PMID:24064047

Medical tourism in Ireland, like in many Western states, is built around assumptions about individual agency, choice, possibility, and mobility. One specific form of medical tourism—the flow of women from Ireland traveling in order to secure an abortion—disrupts and contradicts these assumptions. One legacy of the bitter, contentious political and legal battles surrounding abortion in Ireland in the 1980s and 1990s has been securing the right of mobility for all pregnant Irish citizens to cross international borders to secure an abortion. However, these mobility rights are contingent upon nationality, social class, and race, and they have enabled successive Irish governments to avoid any responsibility for providing safe, legal, and affordable abortion services in Ireland. Nearly twenty years after the X case discussed here, the pregnant female body moving over international borders—entering and leaving the state—is still interpreted as problematic and threatening to the Irish state. PMID:21114071

On 25 July 2001 the Polish Federation for Women and Family Planning organised a Tribunal on Abortion Rights in Warsaw, to publicize the negative consequences of the criminalization of abortion in Poland. A panel of Polish and foreign experts heard the testimonials of seven Polish women's experiences under the 1993 "Anti-Abortion Act". Only two of the seven women were able to tell their stories in person. One died in 2001, at the age of 21, of an unsafe abortion. One is legally blind after having carried her last pregnancy to term. One is in prison for infanticide, which in all likelihood was committed by her boyfriend. National and foreign journalists were in attendance, as well as observers from all walks of life--writers, students, mothers, activists, feminists, husbands. The evidence was clear and compelling. Restrictive abortion laws make abortion unsafe by pushing it underground, endanger women's health, create a climate where even those services that are allowed by law-become unavailable, and contravene standards set by international human rights law. The restrictive abortion law in Poland has not increased the number of births; it has only caused women and their families suffering. The Tribunal brought the issue of abortion into the media prior to an election campaign and galvanised Polish and other Eastern European women's groups to become more active in defence of abortion rights. PMID:12369330

In Ireland it is illegal to distribute information about abortion services. This means that magazines like Cosmopolitan have to remove ads for abortion clinics from the magazines printed for Ireland. A BBC television show about abortion was aired in Ireland with the names of the clinics blacked out. Even the phone books of foreign cities have removed because they contain the phone numbers of abortion clinics. Currently the only price where women can get information about abortion clinics is from a very small network of priests, doctors, and activists. Some activists have resorted to writing the phone numbers of abortion clinics in England on the public bathroom walls. Officially there are 4000 Irish women who travel to England for abortions every year. That figure only represents the women that give Irish addresses. The real figure is estimated to be about 8000 annually. 14 students were arrested for distributing leaflets with information about abortion clinics in England. They lost their case in both the Irish and European courts and have been fined, undisclosed amounts. Ireland is 85% Catholic and the Catholic Church still has a great deal of influence in Irish politics. The head of the Irish Family Planning Association said that the Catholic Church has moved Ireland back into the Dark Ages. Abortion was made illegal in Ireland in 1986. Contraception was legalized in 1980 and in 1985 condoms were allowed to be sold without a doctors prescription. PMID:12317129

Abortion has provided one of the most noxious, disturbing, and unending of all American moral and legal struggles. The issue forces us to think about the most difficult kind of ethical issues, e.g., the moral status of the fetus and the meaning of human "life" and "personhood." The win-at-all-costs attitude among the leading advocacy groups has created gross stereotypes. While most arguments heard today were also heard prior to the Roe vs. Wade decision, the tone has radically changed. Better organization has meant hotter rhetoric and a nastier public style. We need to move the abortion debate along; it is now as stagnate as it is nasty. We need creative discussion and realistic compromise. The pre-Roe arguments in favor of choice have changed. Then, the movement to legalizeabortion rested on the following: 1) illegal abortions were killing and maiming women; 2) women should have a backup to ineffective contraception; 3) the number of unwanted pregnancies should be reduced; only wanted children should be born, as a matter of child welfare; 4) women should have the right to make the abortion decision; 5) everything possible should be done to change the economic and domestic circumstances forcing women into unwanted pregnancies. The argument benefited women, children, and society. The many abortion myths that have since taken prominence cloud an already difficult issue. The ongoing tension rests with the conflict between the moral and legal issues. Is it possible to combine legal freedom and seriousness about the moral questions? Only if we recognize the equality of both positions' moral traditions, accept public discussion, the need for compromise, the need to do everything possible to change the economic and social circumstance leading to the abortion choice, and the need for meaningful counseling of women considering abortion. PMID:1451361

Assessing the current status of rights relating to abortion in the U.S. is a complex matter. From a public health perspective, if one looks at the statistics comparing maternal mortality in the U.S. to countries in which abor- tion remains illegal and unsafe, the situation in the U.S. looks extremely positive. Abortion has been legal since 1973, and it is

Since 1975 (17th January), abortion is free and legal in France. The authors analyse 411 first cases of women requiring for an abortion (seen over a period of 11 weeks). Most of them are young women, single, many begin their sexual life. Unwanted pregnancy indicates absence of contraception by ignorance, refusal or ambivalence (never used = 184 cases). 105 women used archaic and inefficient contraceptive means. Modern contraceptive means was used by 154 women but ill applied, ill tolerated and/or discarded (pill = 103 cases, I.U.D. = 14, diaphragme = 2, condoms = 35). Unwanted pregnancy and abortion signify failure of contraception. We compare psychologic and psychopathologic features of women requiring repeated induced abortion with those of women suffering of repeated spontaneous abortion and infertility. These women have frequently (same) problems of feminine identity, bad maternal imago, absence of father, unhappy, and conflictive childhood, immature sexuality and personnality. Contradiction between conscious and unconscious wishes create the two opposite situations and intrapsychic conflicts (spontaneous abortion = conscious willing of pregnancy + unconscious rejection of unbearable pregnancy; induced abortion = strong but unconscious wish of pregancy + conscious and volontary rejection of maternity). Psychotherapy should improve sexual and affective life and in both cases. The authors compare infanticide and abortion behaviors, contraceptive means, and psychological problems of doctors who are asked abortion. PMID:1233904

Whilst the medical indications for therapeutic abortion and the legal limitations set vary enormously from one country to another there is in general an undoubted trend towards giving the pregnant woman herself a greater say in the decision. During the first year of the operation of the Abortion Act, 1967, in England some 72 pregnant women were referred to the author and his colleagues for a recommendation on abortion. A psychiatric examination and follow-up over a period of one year was made both in those cases where abortion was performed as well as in those cases who were refused therapeutic abortion. In this communication a comparison is made between the reactions and outcome in the two groups. A provisional conclusion is reached that no significant psychiatric disturbance could be attributed to the performance of the operation or on the other hand to refusal of the woman's request. PMID:1236478

The paper analyzes conscientious objection by physicians, through the concrete situation of legalabortion in Brazil. It reviews the two main ethical frameworks about conscientious objection in public health, the incompatibility thesis and the integrity thesis, to analyze the reality of legalabortion services in the referral services of the Brazilian public health care system. From these two perspectives, a third perspective is proposed - the justification thesis, to manage the right to conscientious objection among physicians in referral services. This analysis may contribute to the organization of services for legalabortion and to the education of future physicians working in emergency obstetric care. PMID:21808831

Social manifestations of abortion stigma depend upon cultural, legal, and religious context. Abortion stigma in Mexico is under-researched. This study explored the sources, experiences, and consequences of stigma from the perspectives of women who had had an abortion, male partners, and members of the general population in different regional and legal contexts. We explored abortion stigma in Mexico City where abortion is legal in the first trimester and five states-Chihuahua, Chiapas, Jalisco, Oaxaca, and Yucatán-where abortion remains restricted. In each state, we conducted three focus groups-men ages 24-40 years (n = 36), women 25-40 years (n = 37), and young women ages 18-24 years (n = 27)-and four in-depth face-to-face interviews in total; two with women (n = 12) and two with the male partners of women who had had an abortion (n = 12). For 4 of the 12 women, this was their second abortion. This exploratory study suggests that abortion stigma was influenced by norms that placed a high value on motherhood and a conservative Catholic discourse. Some participants in this study described abortion as an "indelible mark" on a woman's identity and "divine punishment" as a consequence. Perspectives encountered in Mexico City often differed from the conservative postures in the states. PMID:25068848

This piece describes abortion practices in use from the 1600s to the 19th century among the inhabitants of North America. The abortive techniques of women from different ethnic and racial groups as found in historical literature are revealed. Thus, the point is made that abortion is not simply a "now issue" that effects select women. Instead, it is demonstrated that it is a widespread practice as solidly rooted in our past as it is in the present. PMID:10297561

Abortion is a universal phenomenon, occurring throughout recorded history and at all levels of societal organization. Techniques are highly varied, as are the circumstances under which it is practised. The status of and attitudes towards abortion in Western civilization are variable and have, in most cases, been changing. As of 1982, 10% and 18% of the world's population respectively, lived in countries where abortion was totally prohibited or where it was permitted only to save the mother's life. In the USA, various national surveys indicate liberalization of public attitudes towards pregnancy termination between 1965 and the years immediately following the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision (1973) which legalizedabortion. More recent polls demonstrate little attitudinal change since 1972-1973: between 80% and 90% of Americans approve of abortion in the case of poor health, a seriously defective fetus, or rape, and between 40% and 50% indicate approval for all other reasons as well. Only 10% of the American population would like to see abortion prohibited under all circumstances. Sociodemographic analyses indicate that individuals who disapprove of abortion differ from those who approve of its availability in that they are more likely to be Roman Catholic or fundamentalist Protestant; are, in general, more strongly committed to organized religion; are on the traditional/conservative end of the spectrum with regard to women's role in life, premarital sex, sex education and civil liberties; and tend to have achieved a relatively low educational level. 'Pro-life' and 'pro-choice' activists tend to be women who are completely different from one another in sociodemographic characteristics and in overall values, particularly as these relate to traditional versus modern female roles. PMID:3519038

For decades, the induction of fetal demise has been used before both surgical and medical second-trimester abortion. Intracardiac potassium chloride and intrafetal or intra-amniotic digoxin injections are the pharmacologic agents used most often to induce fetal demise. In the last several years, induction of fetal demise has become more common before second-trimester abortion. The only randomized, placebo-controlled trial of induced fetal demise before surgical abortion used a 1 mg injection of intra-amniotic digoxin before surgical abortion at 20-23 weeks' gestation and found no difference in procedure duration, difficulty, estimated blood loss, pain scores or complications between groups. Inducing demise before induction terminations at near viable gestational ages to avoid signs of life at delivery is practiced widely. The role of inducing demise before dilation and evacuation (D&E) remains unclear, except for legal considerations in the United States when an intact delivery is intended. There is a discrepancy between the one published randomized trial that used 1 mg intra-amniotic digoxin that showed no improvement in D&E outcomes and observational studies using different routes, doses and pre-abortion intervals that have made claims for its use. Additional randomized trials might provide clearer evidence upon which to make further recommendations about any role of inducing demise before surgical abortion. At the current time, the Society of Family Planning recommends that pharmacokinetic studies followed by randomized controlled trials be conducted to assess the safety and efficacy of feticidal agents to improve abortion safety. PMID:20472112

The issue of conscientious objection in Spain has been used by pro-choice groups against objecting health personnel as one of the obstacles to the implementation of the abortion law, a misnomer. At present objection is massive in the public sector; 95% of abortions are carried out in private clinics with highly lucrative returns; abortion tourism has decreased; and false objection has proliferated in the public sector when the objector performs abortions in the private sector for high fees. The legal framework for conscientious objection is absent in Spain. Neither Article 417 of the Penal Code depenalizing abortion, nor the Ministerial Decree of July 31, 1985, nor the Royal Decree of November 21, 1986 recognize such a concept. However, the ruling of the Constitutional Court on April 11, 1985 confirmed that such objection can be exercised with independence. Some authors refer to the applicability of Law No. 48 of December 16, 1984 that regulates conscientious objection in military service to health personnel. The future law concerning the fundamental right of ideological and religious liberty embodied in Article 16.1 of the Constitution has to be revised. A draft bill was submitted in the Congress or Representatives concerning this issue on May 3, 1985 that recognizes the right of medical personnel to object to abortion without career repercussions. Another draft bill was introduced on April 17, 1985 that would allow the nonparticipation of medical personnel in the interruption of pregnancy, however, they would be prohibited from practicing such in the private hospitals. Neither of these proposed bills became law. Professional groups either object unequivocally, or do not object at all, or object on an ethical level but do not object to therapeutic abortion. The resolution of this issue has to be by consensus and not by imposition. PMID:1565971

This article empirically assesses whether age-restricted access to abortion and the birth control pill influence minors’ fertility in the United States. There is not a strong consensus in previous literature regarding the relationship between laws restricting minors’ access to abortion and minors’ birthrates. This is the first study to recognize that state laws in place prior to the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision enabled minors to legally consent to surgical treatment—including abortion—in some states but not in others, and to construct abortion access variables reflecting this. In this article, age-specific policy variables measure either a minor’s legal ability to obtain an abortion or to obtain the birth control pill without parental involvement. I find fairly strong evidence that young women’s birthrates dropped as a result of abortion access as well as evidence that birth control pill access led to a drop in birthrates among whites. PMID:19110899

Abortion represents a particularly interesting subject for a social movements analysis of healthcare issues because of the involvement of both feminist pro-choice activists and a segment of the medical profession. Although both groups have long shared the same general goal of legalabortion, the alliance has over time been an uneasy one, and in many ways a contradictory one. This

n Overall rates of abortion in the United States peaked soon after the procedure was legalized in 1973, remained fairly constant through the 1980s, and have declined steadily since then. However, the overall rate masks large differences and varying patterns across time for demo- graphic subgroups. n A substantial drop in the abortion rates of teenagers and women aged 20-24

Background: Induced Abortion for social reasons is spreading all over the world. It is estimated that globally 50 million unborn babies are killed annually, resulting in the deaths of 200,000 pregnant women and the suffering of millions. The complications of illegal abortion are very serious. Abortion is still used in many countries as a means of family planning. The medical reasons for abortion are limited and con-sti-tute a small proportion of all abortion cases. This paper discusses the different views on abortion, its history, its evolution over time, and the present legal circumstances. The emphasis is on the situation in Islamic countries and the effect of Islamic Fatwas on abortion. PMID:23008648

It was hypothesised that the problems occurring in an abortion situation might be even more pronounced at a repeat abortion. Forty-five women with repeated abortion and 92 women seeking their first abortion have been studied as regards their psycho-social background, the present social situation, sexual history, the present pregnancy and their experience of contraceptives. The groups differed significantly only in

Since abortion is an important aspect of women's control over reproduction, barriers to abortion threaten women's efforts to attain equality. The ensuing discussion rests upon 2 assumptions: 1) That women want and need control over their reproductive capacity, and 2) that women want personal access to abortion and desire the availability of abortion to women generally. Under Roe v. Wade, abortions can only be performed if physicians choose to do them; this has left 4/5ths of US counties without an abortion provider. Roe neither compelled the availability of abortion services to all interested women, nor did it establish a "women's entitlement to an abortion based on her decision... "While the liberal solution in the Law may provide formal new rights, these rights are often ineffective because they fail to address attitudes firmly rooted in the social structure. Feminists' radical, self-help approach of becoming their own abortion providers offers a limited solution because of 1) geography and regional culture: the "paucity of abortion providers is likely to be replicated for feminist health collectives"; 2) the legal risk in underground institutions; and 3) the woman's choice, i.e., will the tradition-minded women use an alternative medical facility? Finally, "the woman's own decision-making process may be the ultimate barrier to abortion." The high visibility and intense emotions brought to contemporary abortion discussions in the post-Roe era may be far more chilling to individual decision than the relative silence of the 1950s. Psychological, as well as physical, availability of abortion must be kept in mind. For the future, social scientists can provide awareness of the social context in which the legal definition of abortion rights confronts the lives of women. PMID:12317577

Experience with 50 first time aborters, 50 second time aborters, and 50 third time aborters residing in an urban area of Copenhagen suggests that women having a repeat abortion are more similar than dissimilar to women having a first induced abortion. There were no differences in socioeconomic status, educational level, or stated reasons for choosing abortion (usually socioeconomic and family considerations). Though similar to first and second time aborters in their life situations and greater contraceptive risk-taking, third timers seemed to become pregnant more readily. They were also less willing to be interviewed. Related studies and suggestions for postabortion counseling are discussed. PMID:9197806

This study uses pooled time-series data to estimate the effects of various restrictive abortion laws on the demand for abortion.\\u000a This study differs from prior pooled time-series cross-section research in that it explicitly includes the price of an abortion\\u000a in the abortion demand equation. State Medicaid funding is found to increase the abortion demand of women of childbearing\\u000a age; while

Candidates wanting to air advertisements containing graphic depictions of aborted fetuses presented television stations with a dilemma. Sections 312(a)(7) and 315(a) of the Communications Act prevent broadcasters from censoring or restricting the political advertisements of legally qualified candidates seeking federal office. Under the United States Criminal Code, broadcasting material deemed indecent may result in penalties. Also, the Federal Communications Commission

This article, prepared for the 2011 Wiley A. Branton Symposium at Howard Law School, provides a snapshot of how current law and practice generate mixed messages about prenatal genetic testing and abortion. The ability to screen and to test for genetic conditions prenatally is expanding, not only because of technological innovations but also because of increased legal and financial incentives.

At February's Cairo+5 proceedings at the Hague, the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy (CRLP) called a press conference to discuss changes in abortion laws around the world since the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994. According to the director of CRLP's International Program, 9 countries have modified their abortion laws since Cairo. Of those, 7 liberalized their laws, while Poland and El Salvador further restricted legislation. The CRLP supports the liberalization of abortion laws for all women in all countries. Abortion law has been liberalized in South Africa since Cairo, with the enactment in 1997 of the Termination of Pregnancy Act. In contrast, however, anti-choice groups in Poland successfully challenged the legality of abortion in 1996 by declaring it against the Polish Constitution. Abortion is prohibited in Chile in all circumstances, even to save the life of the woman. However, despite the illegality of abortion in that country, half of all pregnancies in Chile end in abortion. Unsafe abortion contributes to the 50% maternal mortality rate in Nepal. Abortion in the country is punishable by a 20-year prison sentence, regardless of the age of the woman. PMID:12294838

In the US attitudes toward abortion in the 1980s seem to have reached a more liberal plateau, much more favored than in the 1960s or earlier, but not longer moving in a liberal direction. Catholic attitudes basically have followed the same trend. Traditionally Catholic support has been slightly lower than Protestant, and both are less inclined to support abortion than Jews or the nonreligious. During the 1970s support among non-black Catholics averaged about 10 percentage points below non-black Protestants. Blacks tend to be anti-abortion and thereby lower support among Protestants as a whole. A comparison of Protestants and Catholics of both races shows fewer religious differences -- about 7 percentage points. There are some indications that this gap may be closing. In 1982, for the 1st time, support for abortions for social reasons, such as poverty, not wanting to marry, or not wanting more children, was as high among Catholics as among Protestants. 1 of the factors contributing to this narrowing gap has been the higher level of support for abortion among younger Catholics. Protestants show little variation on abortion attitudes, with those over age 65 being slightly less supportive. Among Catholics, support drops rapidly with age. This moderate and possibly vanishing difference between Catholics and Protestants contrasts sharply with the official positions of their respective churches. The Catholic Church takes an absolute moral position against abortion, while most Protestant churches take no doctrinaire position on abortion. Several, such as the Unitarians and Episcopalians, lean toward a pro-choice position as a matter of social policy, though fundamentalist sects take strong anti-abortion stances. Few Catholics agree with their church's absolutist anti-abortion position. The big split on abortion comes between what are sometimes termed the "hard" abortion reasons -- mother's health endangered, serious defect in fetus, rape, or incest. Support among Catholics for "hard" reasons ranges from about 80-88%. Abortion for social reasons such as poverty or not wanting additional children ranges from 35-50%. Catholic support for abortion also varies by geographical region, community type, and ethnic group. Support tends to be strongest in the Northeast, in large cities, and among descendants of immigrants from Italy, Eastern Europe, and France. Support is weakest among Catholics in the Southwest, in small towns or rural areas, and among the Irish and Hispanics, especially Mexican-Americans. Among Catholics, many factors cause opinion to deviate from the national average. A 2nd major political implication is the comparative dedication or commitment of supporters and opponents. Analysis of election returns in 1978 in particular failed to demonstrate any measurable anti-abortion vote, but this does not mean that in a particular constituency it could not be made a serious issue. PMID:12178931

Abortion was made legal on request in Mongolia in 1989, following the collapse of the socialist regime, and later bound by a range of regulations. Concerned about the high number of abortions and inadequate quality of care in abortion services, the Ministry of Health applied the World Health Organization's Strategic Approach to issues related to abortion and contraception in 2003. The aim was to develop policies and programmes to reduce unintended pregnancies, mitigate complications from unsafe abortion, and improve the quality of abortion and contraception services for all socio-economic groups, including adolescents. This paper describes the changes that arose from a strategic assessment, highlighting the introduction of mifepristone-misoprostol for second trimester abortion. The aim was to replace mini-caesarean section and intra-uterine injection of Rivanol (ethacridine lactate), so that second trimester abortions could take place earlier than at 20 weeks gestation. National standards and guidelines for comprehensive abortion care were developed, the national pre-service training curriculum was harmonized with the new guidelines, at least one-third of the country's obstetrician-gynaecologists were trained in manual vacuum aspiration and medical abortion, and three model comprehensive abortion care units were established to provide high quality services to women, high quality training for providers and serve as nodes for further scaling up. PMID:18772093

The article focuses on the different factors and circumstances that have led to the reform of Spanish Abortion Law (1985). Judicial investigations of several abortion clinics have demonstrated that up until today there has been a widespread tendency of the clinics to practice beyond the limits established by the law. Nonetheless, the reaction of the government has not been to protect the life of the unborn. Its reaction has been, however, to cover the irregularities committed by the abortionists through the legalization of their abusive practices. Besides, the reform of the law has been inspired by elements of radical feminism. The author points out the major reasons that make this reform unconstitutional and offers alternative solutions for the protection of the mother and the unborn child. PMID:19799486

Poland's "anti-abortion" law, which has been in effect since March 1993, is one of the most restrictive in Europe. Under this law, abortion is allowed only when there is justifiable suspicion that the pregnancy constitutes a threat to the life or a serious threat to the health of the mother, that the fetus is irreversibly damaged, or that the pregnancy resulted from an illegal act. Nevertheless, women continue to seek abortions at all costs, and the anti-abortion law has led to creation of "underground" abortion services and "abortion tourism." The existence of underground abortion services (with most available in large cities) is documented through the proliferation of advertisements that contain certain catch phrases, through the testimony of women who have received abortions from private gynecologists, through anonymous statements issued by physicians who perform abortions, and by a government report. Abortion costs range from US$400-800, whereas an average monthly salary in Poland is US$300. As an alternative, an estimated 16,000 Polish women travel to neighboring countries to receive an abortion. The social consequences of the anti-abortion law include an increasing number of abandoned children or infants and an increasing number of teenage pregnancies and late pregnancies. The anti-abortion law has proved to be more restrictive in practice than on paper as women with a right to legalabortion and all the required documentation are refused the procedure. Affected women fail to lodge complaints with the Ministry of Health because they want to put the situation behind them or because they are afraid they will be prosecuted. Other effects of the law are that Poles live in permanent fear of pregnancy and suffer terrible guilt when they resort to abortion. Many obstacles impede use of contraceptives in Poland, and implementation of mandated sex education is chaotic and uneven with most teachers justifiably claiming that they are unqualified to teach this subject. PMID:12222281

Background Internet surveys that draw from traditionally generated samples provide the unique conditions to engage adolescents in exploration of sensitive health topics. Methods We examined awareness of unwanted pregnancy, abortion behaviour, methods, and attitudes toward specific legal indications for abortion via a school-based internet survey among 378 adolescents aged 12–21 years in three Rio de Janeiro public schools. Results Forty-five percent knew peers who had undergone an abortion. Most students (66.0%) did not disclose abortion method knowledge. However, girls (aOR 4.2, 95% CI 2.4-7.2), those who had experienced their sexual debut (aOR1.76, 95% CI 1.1-3.0), and those attending a prestigious magnet school (aOR 2.7 95% CI 1.4-6.3) were more likely to report methods. Most abortion methods (79.3%) reported were ineffective, obsolete, and/or unsafe. Herbs (e.g. marijuana tea), over-the-counter medications, surgical procedures, foreign objects and blunt trauma were reported. Most techniques (85.2%) were perceived to be dangerous, including methods recommended by the World Health Organization. A majority (61.4%) supported Brazil’s existing law permitting abortion in the case of rape. There was no association between gender, age, sexual debut, parental education or socioeconomic status and attitudes toward legalabortion. However, students at the magnet school supported twice as many legal indications (2.7, SE.27) suggesting a likely role of peers and/or educators in shaping abortion views. Conclusions Abortion knowledge and attitudes are not driven simply by age, religion or class, but rather a complex interplay that includes both social spaces and gender. Prevention of abortion morbidity and mortality among adolescents requires comprehensive sexuality and reproductive health education that includes factual distinctions between safe and unsafe abortion methods. PMID:24521075

In Jewish law right and wrong, good and evil, are absolute values which transcend time, place, and environment. They defy definition by human intuition or expediency. Jewish law derives from the Divine revelation at Mount Sinai as expounded by sages faithful to, and authorized by, its writ. The Talmud rules that if a woman is in hard travail, and her life must be saved, the child must be aborted and extracted. The mother's life comes first. The fetus is not a human life until it is born. But 19th century Rabbinical works state that it is immoral to destroy a monster child. Modern rabbis are unanimous in condemning abortion, feticide, or infanticide as an unconscionable attack on human life. However, Jewish law allows abortion if the pregnancy will cause severe psychological damage to the mother. No civilized society could survive without laws which occasionally cause some suffering or personal anguish. One human life is worth a million lives, because each life is infinite in value. In cases of rape or incest Jewish law still does not sanction abortion. Man's procreative responsibilities are serious and carry rights and obligations which would be upset by liberalized abortion laws. If a person kills a person who is mortally wounded, the killer is guilty of a moral offense. PMID:12309928

This paper uses data on the distribution of abortions by weeks of gestation to examine the relationship between abortion restrictions and the timing of abortions. State-level data from 1974 to 1997 indicate that adoption of parental involvement laws for minors or enforcement of mandatory waiting periods is positively associated with the post-first trimester percentage of abortions. However, autocorrelation-corrected specifications indicate

Religion plays a significant role in a patient’s bioethical decision to have an abortion as well as in a country’s abortion policy. Nevertheless, a holistic understanding of the Islamic position remains under-researched. This study first conducted a detailed and systematic analysis of Islam’s position towards abortion through examining the most authoritative biblical texts (i.e. the Quran and Sunnah) as well as other informative factors (i.e. contemporary fatwas, Islamic mysticism and broader Islamic principles, interest groups, and transnational Islamic organizations). Although Islamic jurisprudence does not encourage abortion, there is no direct biblical prohibition. Positions on abortion are notably variable, and many religious scholars permit abortion in particular circumstances during specific stages of gestational development. It is generally agreed that the least blameworthy abortion is when the life of the pregnant woman is threatened and when 120 days have not lapsed; however, there is remarkable heterogeneity in regards to other circumstances (e.g. preserving physical or mental health, foetal impairment, rape, or social or economic reasons), and later gestational development of the foetus. This study secondly conducted a cross-country examination of abortion rights in Muslim-majority countries. A predominantly conservative approach was found whereby 18 of 47 countries do not allow abortion under any circumstances besides saving the life of the pregnant woman. Nevertheless, there was substantial diversity between countries, and 10 countries allowed abortion ‘on request’. Discursive elements that may enable policy development in Muslim-majority countries as well as future research that may enhance the study of abortion rights are discussed. Particularly, more lenient abortion laws may be achieved through disabusing individuals that the most authoritative texts unambiguously oppose abortion, highlighting more lenient interpretations that exist in certain Islamic legal schools, emphasizing significant actors that support abortion, and being mindful of policy frames that will not be well-received in Muslim-majority countries. PMID:23749735

Boundary work refers to the strategies deployed by professionals in the arenas of the public, the law and the workplace to define and defend jurisdictional authority. Little attention has been directed to the role of documents in negotiating professional claims. While boundary work over induced abortion has been extensively documented, few studies have examined jurisdictional disputes over the treatment of abortion complications, or post-abortion care (PAC). This study explores how medical providers deploy medical records in boundary work over the treatment of complications of spontaneous and induced abortion in Senegal, where induced abortion is prohibited under any circumstance. Findings are based on an institutional ethnography of Senegal's national PAC program over a period of 13 months between 2010 and 2011. Data collection methods included in-depth interviews with 36 health care professionals, observation of PAC services at three hospitals, a review of abortion records at each hospital, and a case review of illegal abortions prosecuted by the state. Findings show that health providers produce a particular account of the type of abortion treated through a series of practices such as the patient interview and the clinical exam. Providers obscure induced abortion in medical documents in three ways: the use of terminology that does not differentiate between induced and spontaneous abortion in PAC registers, the omission of data on the type of abortion altogether in PAC registers, and reporting the total number but not the type of abortions treated in hospital data transmitted to state health authorities. The obscuration of suspected induced abortion in the record permits providers to circumvent police inquiry at the hospital. PAC has been implemented in approximately 50 countries worldwide. This study demonstrates the need for additional research on how medical professionals negotiate conflicting medical and legal obligations in the daily practice of treating abortion complications. PMID:24608117

Situations Consider the two following hypothetical situations involving women considering abortion: 1. The first woman is forty-five years old, happily married to a financially secure husband, and holds a part-time job. She is already a mother, with a...'s substance use and past abortions), and the decision of the mother for a lifestyle change for the better, Hare would probably conclude that the future child of the second woman will be better off than the present one. Having this child now would likely...

Attitudes toward the desirability of abortion were significaantly related to sex, college, classification, level of church activity, residence background, family size, exposure to abortion, and attitude toward premarital sex. The data suggest an increasing acceptance of abortion in the future. (Author)

Mosher's Forced-Choice Sex Guilt Inventory was administered to 45 clients of a university problem pregnancy counseling service who were planning to have abortions and to 47 sexually active nonpregnant university coeds. Sex guilt was found to be significantly higher for abortion Ss than for nonpregnant Ss. It was also found that for each type of contraceptive, abortion Ss had higher

This article gives an overview of what is known about second trimester abortions in India, including the reasons why women seek abortions in the second trimester, the influence of abortion law and policy, surgical and medical methods used, both safe and unsafe, availability of services, requirements for second trimester service delivery, and barriers women experience in accessing second trimester services.

The collapse of communism across East Central Europe was marked by a renewal of debates around reproduction, with abortion debates surfacing in Romania, Germany and Poland. Reproductive politics and more specifically abortion debates typically come to the forefront in times of crisis or societal transformation. Struggles over women's reproductive rights in Poland, as evidenced by continuing debate around the legal

Since prehistorical era, the human has desired to control reproduction artificially. However, abortion, one of the productive methods has been prohibited to a certain degree by law in some countries, but the operation of abortion has been done in practice. Also, controversial arguments on legitimacy of abortion have been raised. In Korea, physicians operates abortions more than 2 million times each year. In spite of serious social problems, arguments on abortion have not been common yet. The efforts to find a good solution for abortion have not been very sufficient. Therefore, this study is to investigate the concerns for the conditions of abortion since 1945 (this year is the independent one from Japan's government) through a historical perspective and to suggest the efficient direction in policy. Since 1945, many women have had no choice but abortion for their basic life. The Korean government of legislated the Crimes of Abortion in Criminal Law in 1953. However, the number of women who underwent abortion increased since 1962 due to the governmental Family Planning Policy. In addition, the Mother and Fatherless Child Health Act was enacted in 1973 that tolerated abortion to some extent. The disparate treatment of abortion between Criminal Lam and the governmental policy fueled the confusion to potentially pregnant women. The first reason why Korean women choose abortion is wrongful pregnancy. Compared to other counties, in Korea, abortion were operated for sex selection. To conclude, it is important to be implement positive sex education, proper contraception education by government and social publicization of arguments on abortion. PMID:15005096

In Ireland abortion and information relating to pregnancy termination are illegal. In June of 1991 the struggle to lift the ban on abortion information currently pending in European Courts suffered a set back when the European Court's Advocate General Walter Van Gervan backed the Irish ban. He stated that the Court must respect the legitimate differences of policy when they involve moral and ethical issues. The statement is expected to have a significant influential bearing on the final decision of the court. The case involves members of Irish Student Unions and is only one of several cases currently in the European Court concerning the freedom of abortion information in Ireland. Abortion has been illegal in Ireland since the 1861 Offenses against the Person Act which outrightly prohibited the voluntary termination of pregnancy under any circumstances. During the 20th century Irish women have traveled to England to seek abortion services. The current push by anti-choice groups started when contraception was legalized in 1980 and they feared that the abortion prohibition would be removed. The groups backed the Prime Minister Garrett Fitzgerald who supported their ideas. The result was a referendum to modify the constitution to include a stated right to life. This was passed in September 1983. The anti-choice amendment, article 40.3.3, guarantees the right to life of the unborn. It was this amendment that allowed the anti-choice groups to begin their attack on a abortion information which ultimately led to the currently pending court case. Currently there is an underground network of concerned women that distribute information in the form of phone numbers of abortion clinics in England that must be written on bathroom walls because it is currently the only way to get the information to women who need it. PMID:12284547

This article examines Soviet reproductive politics after the Communist regime legalizedabortion in 1955. The regime's new abortion policy did not result in an end to the condemnation of abortion in official discourse. The government instead launched an extensive campaign against abortion. Why did authorities bother legalizing the procedure if they still disapproved of it so strongly? Using archival sources, public health materials, and medical as well as popular journals to investigate the antiabortion campaign, this article argues that the Soviet government sought to regulate gender and sexuality through medical intervention and health "education" rather than prohibition and force in the post-Stalin era. It also explores how the antiabortion public health campaign produced "knowledge" not only about the procedure and its effects, but also about gender and sexuality, subjecting both women and men to new pressures and regulatory norms. PMID:22145180

Unsafe abortion constitutes a major public health problem in Burkina Faso and concerns mainly young women. The legal restriction and social stigma make abortions most often clandestine and risky for women who decide to terminate a pregnancy. However, the exposure to the risk of unsafe induced abortion is not the same for all the women who faced unwanted pregnancy and decide to have an abortion. Drawn from a qualitative study on the issue of abortion in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital, the contrasting cases of two young women who had abortion allow us to show how the women's personal resources (such as the school level, financial resources, the compliance to social norms, the social network, etc.) may determine the degree of vulnerability of women, the delay to have an abortion, the type of care they are likely to benefit from, and the cost they have to face. This study concludes that the poorest always pay more (cost and consequences), take longer to have an abortion, and have more exposure to the risk of unsafe abortion. PMID:24790605

A literature survey has been conducted to estimate the incidence of breakpoints in aborters. Out of 9,012 cases that could be evaluated, about 4.0&percnt; had chromosomal abnormalities, which is significantly higher as compared to the normal population (1–0.5&percnt;). The structural anomalies were 7 times higher than numerical abnormalities. Thirty-seven percent of the rearrangements were in males while 63.0&percnt; were in

Courts and legal tribunals increasingly decline to serve as religious or moral guardians, and require social evidence to support litigants' claims. Recent cases on emergency contraception and abortion are examined to show how judicial interpretations can take account of evidence of the impact that different understandings of the law will have for how ordinary people can plan their lives and reproductive choices. In an emergency contraception case, an interpretation was rejected that would have criminalized choices that millions of decent, law-abiding physicians, pharmacists and women routinely make. In an abortion case, three judges unanimously rejected a government ministry's defence of compliance with the law because the ministry had failed to investigate the needs within its jurisdiction for legal clarity, lawful services, and its responsibility to women returning from having lawful procedures elsewhere. In both cases, litigants prevailed who showed factual evidence that their claims better promoted reproductive health and choice. PMID:16546189

Variations in the availability of abortion providers may impact the demand for abortions since greater provider availability reduces the travel cost associated with obtaining an abortion. This paper applies a fertility-control model to estimate the responsiveness of abortion demand to travel-cost variations using individual data from all births and abortions of women over age 20 in the state of Texas

In many countries, reproductive health services do not actively include post-abortion family planning services for women who are treated for complications of unsafe abortion. This greatly increases the risk of further unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The authors, drawing on the recommendations of a meeting of experts, make a plea for bridging the gap and dealing more realistically with this urgent need. PMID:7873025

In Brazil, to have a legalabortion in the case of rape, the woman's statement that rape has occurred is considered sufficient to guarantee the right to abortion. The aim of this study was to understand the practice and opinions about providing abortion in the case of rape among obstetricians-gynecologists (OBGYNs) in Brazil. A mixed-method study was conducted from April to July 2012 with 1,690 OBGYNs who responded to a structured, electronic, self-completed questionnaire. In the quantitative phase, 81.6% of the physicians required police reports or judicial authorization to guarantee the care requested. In-depth telephone interviews with 50 of these physicians showed that they frequently tested women's rape claim by making them repeat their story to several health professionals; 43.5% of these claimed conscientious objection when they were uncertain whether the woman was telling the truth. The moral environment of illegal abortion alters the purpose of listening to a patient - from providing care to passing judgement on her. The data suggest that women's access to legalabortion is being blocked by these barriers in spite of the law. We recommend that FEBRASGO and the Ministry of Health work together to clarify to physicians that a woman's statement that rape occurred should allow her to access a legalabortion. PMID:24908465

The objective was to estimate the incidence of criminal abortions and concealment of births in Transkei. This paper presents a review of the records of the medico-legal register at Umtata General Hospital from 1993-2003. There were 37 cases of premature concealed births and conceptus material brought to the attention of medico-legal investigators between 1993 and 2003. Of these, 26 (70.3%) were concealed births, and 11 (29.7%) were abortion products. There is great variability in the incidence of abortion and concealment of births during this period. There were nine cases in 1993 and three in 2003. No case was reported in 1994. There was only a single case reported in each of the years 1995, 1997 and 2001, and four cases in each of the years 1996, 1998 and 2002. In 1998 there were eight cases, the highest for any year after promulgation of the Abortion Act. There is no significant difference in the number of cases reported for medico-legal investigation of criminal abortion and concealment of births before and after the Abortion Act which came into effect in 1997. PMID:15745275

This article traces the establishment of abortion clinics following Roe v Wade. Abortion clinics followed one of two models: (1) a medical model in which physicians emphasized the delivery of high quality medical services, contrasting their clinics with the back-alley abortion services that had sent many women to hospital emergency rooms prior to legalization, or (2) a feminist model in which clinics emphasized education and the dissemination of information to empower women patients and change the structure of women's health care. Male physicians and feminists came together in the newly established abortion services and argued over the priorities and characteristics of health care delivery. A broad range of clinics emerged, from feminist clinics to medical offices run by traditional male physicians to for-profit clinics. The establishment of the National Abortion Federation in the mid-1970s created a national forum of health professionals and contributed to the broadening of the discussion and the adoption of compromises as both feminists and physicians influenced each other's practices. PMID:23327251

Medical termination of pregnancy in the second trimester is a painful and a time-consuming procedure. This study comprises 110 consecutive second trimester terminations of pregnancy performed 1994-96. In 76 women (69%) the procedure was a legalabortion due to foetal malformations, 25 women (23%) had an intrauterine foetal death, and in 9 (8%) cases pregnancy was terminated because of persisting drainage of amniotic fluid. All cases with intrauterine foetal death and early drainage of amniotic fluid were successfully treated after application of up to five vagitories of gemeprost (mean 2.8 vagitories; mean induction-abortion interval 8.9 hours). In patients undergoing abortion due to foetal malformations, the mean induction-abortion time was longer (mean 22.7 hours, mean 5.2 vagitories) and 20% did not respond adequately to prostaglandin. Our results show that gemeprost is an efficient means of terminating a pregnancy in cases of foetal death or pre-term amniorrhea, but that it is less efficient in inducing abortion. PMID:10613090

This article examines the economics of abortion safety in Egypt. Under Egyptian law induced abortion is restricted to cases in which two physicians certify that the pregnancy presents a danger to the health or life of the mother. Despite this legal restriction, the available data indicate that abortion is quite widely practiced. Multifaceted strands of legal, religious, economic, and health care policy influence both discourse about and access to abortion in Egypt. Interviews with 18 Egyptian women who sought to terminate their pregnancies revealed a wide range of abortion methods that varied in both safety and cost. Three levels of safety were identified: (1) indigenous (wasfa baladi) methods were potentially the least safe; (2) biomedical abortions at clandestine clinics appeared safer than indigenous methods, but were not without risk: and (3) biomedical abortions administered by private gynecologists, were the most safe. Safety is expensive. Wealthy women can literally buy safety, while poor women's lack of financial resources put their lives at great risk. PMID:9723854

The topic of abortion stigma has caught the attention of researchers and activists working on reproductive health and rights around the world. But as research on abortion stigma grows, I fear that the concept is in danger of becoming so large and all-encompassing that it may mask deeply rooted inequalities. In addition, abortion stigma may be seen as too complex and tangled an issue, thereby leading to paralysis. It is important that we become more precise in our understanding of abortion stigma so that we can carry out better research to understand and measure it, design interventions to mitigate it, and evaluate those interventions. PMID:24183406

Davis examines a view held in common by those she classifies as "restrictives," "moderates," and "permissives," that the right of self-defense justifies a pregnant woman's seeking an abortion when her life is at risk. While maintaining that abortion to preserve a woman's life is morally defensible, she argues that the doctrine of self-defense has been misapplied because the entitlement to self-defense has been misunderstood, and because the woman-fetus relationship precludes regarding the problem of abortion as simply a balancing of rights. She concludes that the defense of therapeutic abortion is neither straightforward nor unproblematic. PMID:11655659

...INSTITUTIONAL MANAGEMENT MISCELLANEOUS Birth Control, Pregnancy, Child Placement, and Abortion § 551.23 Abortion...counseling to aid her in making the decision whether to carry the pregnancy to full term or to have an elective abortion. If an...

... steps and reasons for delays in obtaining abortions in the United States. Contraception 2006;74(4):334-44. vi Ibid ... R, Zolna M, Henshaw S and Finer LB. Abortion in the United States: Incidence and Access to Services, 2005. Perspectives on ...

Most literature dealing with the attitudes of the mass public toward abortion addresses the question in terms of the individual woman seeking termination. This study attempts to explain attitudes when abortion is framed as a public policy question. Three dependent variables are investigated. These are the issues of public funding, when human life begins, and the Human Life Amendment. This

The debate over abortion remains controversial as ever. This article offers an explanation of the main Islamic attitudes towards abortion and areas of need to change in the related rules and regulations in Islamic communities with a special attention to Iran. A selected collection of Islamic references, as well as discussions with experts have been used as a basis for

In this Journal in 1972, 100 leaders in obstetrics and gynecology published a compelling statement that recognized the legalization of abortion in several states and anticipated the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v Wade. They projected the numbers of legalabortions that likely would be required by women in the United States and described the role of the teaching hospital in meeting that responsibility. They wrote to express their concern for women's health in a new legal and medical era of reproductive control and to define the responsibilities of academic obstetrician-gynecologists. Forty years later, 100 professors examine the statement of their predecessors in light of medical advances and legal changes and suggest a further course of action for obstetrician gynecologists. PMID:24034806

Abstract Objective To determine what proportion of women seeking induced abortion in the Calgary census metropolitan area were immigrants. Design For 2 months, eligible women were asked to complete a questionnaire. Women who refused were asked to provide their country of birth (COB) to assess for selection bias. Setting Two abortion clinics in Calgary, Alta. Participants Women presenting at or less than 15 weeks’ gestational age for induced abortion for maternal indications. Main outcome measures The primary outcome was the proportion of women seeking induced abortion services who were immigrants. Secondary outcomes compared socioeconomic characteristics and contraception use between immigrant and Canadian-born women. Results A total of 752 women either completed a questionnaire (78.6%) or provided their COB (21.4%). Overall, 28.9% of women living in the Calgary census metropolitan area who completed the questionnaire were immigrants, less than the 31.2% background proportion of immigrant women of childbearing age. However, 46.0% of women who provided only COB were immigrants. When these data were combined, 34.2% of women presenting for induced abortion identified as immigrant, a proportion not significantly different from the background proportion (P = .127). Immigrant women presenting for induced abortion tended to be older, more educated, married with children, and have increased parity. They were similar to Canadian-born women in number of previous abortions, income status, and employment status. Conclusion This study suggests that immigrant women in Calgary are not presenting for induced abortion in disproportionately higher numbers, which differs from existing European literature. This is likely owing to differing socioeconomic characteristics among the immigrant women in our study from what have been previously described in the literature (typically lower socioeconomic status). Much still needs to be explored with regard to factors influencing the use of abortion services by immigrant women. PMID:25217694

The Cardinal of Milan and the linguist and writer Umberto Eco maintained a correspondence in the mid-1990s in connection with the Italian magazine ¿Liberal¿. One of the issues discussed was the conflict between belief in the value of human life and existing abortion legislation. Umberto Eco stated that he would do all in his power to dissuade a woman pregnant with his child from having an abortion, regardless of the personal cost to the parents, because the birth of a child is a miracle. He would not, however, feel capable of imposing his ethical position on anyone else. Terrible moments occur in which women have a right to make autonomous decisions concerning their bodies, their feelings, their futures. Those who disagree cite the right to life, a rather vague concept about which even atheists can be enthusiastic. The moment at which a new human being is formed has been brought to the center of Catholic theology, despite its uncertainty; the beginning of a new life may always need to be understood as a process whose end result is the newborn. Only the mother should decide at what moment the process may be interrupted. The cardinal¿s response distinguished between psychic and physical life, on the one hand, and life participating in the life of God on the other. The threshold is the moment of conception, reflecting a continuity of identity. The new being is worthy of respect. Any violation of the affection and care owed to the being can only be experienced as a profound suffering and painful laceration that may never heal. The response of Eco is unknown. PMID:12349541

Spontaneous abortion occurs in 15% to 20% of all human pregnancies. Since the late 1800s, the management of incomplete spontaneous abortion has focused on using curettage to empty the uterus as quickly as possible. This practice began to reduce blood loss and infection and has been unquestioned for 4 decades. In today's medical climate, few spontaneous abortions are the resuslt of illegal manipulation, given the availability of legal pregnancy termination. Antibiotics and transfusions are available, should complications arise in conservatively managed cases. Two prospective randomized trials suggest that conservative management may be advantageous for women who have stable vital signs without evidence of infection. They will have fewer perforations and, possibly, fewer infections and uterine synechiae with expectant or medical management. Larger trials should be undertaken to critically assess surgical evacuation compared to medical management, factoring in the psychologic impact of treatment. We believe that medical management will prove to be the most appropriate treatment for uncomplicated spontaneous incomplete abortion in the 21st century. PMID:9822516

Over the past three decades, active euthanasia and abortion have received increasing international attention. Since both these practices are relevant to the role of the nurse-midwife, it is important to know what influences their attitudes towards them. Therefore, the purpose of this study was: 1, to survey the attitudes of nurse-midwives' to active euthanasia and its legalization; 2, to determine

BACKGROUND: Until recently, premarital examination for both men and women was a legal requirement before marriage in China. Researchers have carried out surveys of attendees' sexual activity, pregnancy and abortion before their marriages, trying to map out reproductive health needs in China, according to this unique population-based data. To systematically identify, appraise and summarise all available studies documenting pregnancy and

Compared a sample of mothers of children with cystic fibrosis, cerebral palsy, myelodysplasia, and multiple physical handicaps with a probability sample of mothers of children free of disabilities on their attitudes toward the availability of legalabortion. The responses were not distinguishable for the two groups, nor was the specific disability…

Prenatal diagnosis (PD) provides the physician information on whether the unborn fetus has a genetic or chromosomal disorder, and offers patients a new option: selective abortion. In the present study, we analyzed the answers Mexican geneticists provided to a few selected questions from a multinational survey designed by Wertz and Fletcher [1988: Am J Hum Genet 42:592-600]. The selected questions were related to the use of PD, the acceptance of selective abortion, and the self-reported directiveness of counselling following the diagnosis of a fetal anomaly. Our results show that the great majority of Mexican geneticists participating in the study agree with PD when medically indicated, but not on free demand. Specific cases stimulated the group on thinking more than the general statements provided in the survey. Although the majority agreed that PD should be available to all women, when faced with cases of nonmorbid maternal anxiety, paternity testing, and sex selection, the proportion of geneticists willing to perform the test decreased substantially. When counselling patients on a fetal anomaly, the minority would be as unbiased as possible, and this seems to be the tendency in developing countries where counselling, as stated in the respondents' comments, reflects the belief that the goal of genetics is the prevention of or opposition to abortion. Counselling was influenced by the severity of the disorder. The geneticists' personal attitude toward abortion in the same situations was stronger than when counselling others. Analysis of directiveness in counselling for fetal anomaly showed that older geneticists, with more years of experience in medical genetics, were more likely to be neutral. When counselling directively, the group showed an overall direction toward continuing affected pregnancies. However, older geneticists and those with more than 10 years of practice were more likely than their younger counterparts to counsel towards terminating affected pregnancies. In personal situations of fetal disorder, the general tendency was to abort; however, geneticists seeing more than 5 patients per week, and those who believe that religion is important, were more likely to reject abortion. The sample is representative of Mexican geneticists, and the main limitation of this study is that the geneticists have very little experience in PD, and that their responses were mostly based on theory. However, their opinions may influence the demand and the availability of PD and abortion, as well as the possibility of legalization of abortion on the basis of a fetal defect. PMID:9482653

Abortion represents a particularly interesting subject for a social movements analysis of healthcare issues because of the involvement of both feminist pro-choice activists and a segment of the medical profession. Although both groups have long shared the same general goal of legalabortion, the alliance has over time been an uneasy one, and in many ways a contradictory one. This paper traces points of convergence as well as points of contention between the two groups, specifically: highlighting the tensions between the feminist view of abortion as a women-centred service, with a limited, 'technical' role for the physicians, and the abortion-providing physicians' logic of further medicalization/professional upgrading of abortion services as a response to the longstanding marginality and stigmatisation of abortion providers. Only by noting the evolving relationships between these two crucial sets of actors can one fully understand the contemporary abortion rights movement. We conclude by speculating about similar patterns in medical/lay relationships in other health social movements where 'dissident doctors' and lay activists are similarly seeking recognition for medical services that are controversial. PMID:15383041

Induced abortion is widely practiced in Indonesia by both married and unmarried women. This paper draws on ethnographic research, conducted between 1996 and 1998, which focused on reproductive health and sexuality among young single women on the island of Lombok in Eastern Indonesia. While abortion for married women is tacitly accepted, especially for women with two or more children, premarital pregnancy and abortion remain a highly stigmatised and isolating experience for single women. Government family planning services are not legally permitted to provide contraception to single women and their access to reproductive health care is very limited. Abortion providers were highly critical of unmarried women who sought abortions, despite their willingness to carry out the procedure. The quality of abortion services offered to single women was compromised by the stigma attached to premarital sex and pregnancy. Women who experienced unplanned premarital pregnancy faced personal and familial shame, compromised marriage prospects, abandonment by their partners, single motherhood, a stigmatised child, early cessation of education, and an interrupted income or career, all of which were not desirable options. Young women were only able to legitimately continue premarital pregnancy through marriage. In the absence of an offer of marriage, single women necessarily resorted to abortion to avoid compromising their futures. PMID:11468844

The World Health Organization estimates that 3.1 percent of East African women aged 15-44 have undergone unsafe abortions. This study presents findings regarding abortion practices and beliefs among adolescents and young adults in Tanzania, where abortion is illegal. From 1999 to 2002, six researchers carried out participant observation in nine villages and conducted group discussions and interviews in three others. Most informants opposed abortion as illegal, immoral, dangerous, or unacceptable without the man's consent, and many reported that ancestral spirits killed women who aborted clan descendants. Nonetheless, abortion was widely, if infrequently, attempted, by ingestion of laundry detergent, chloroquine, ashes, and specific herbs. Most women who attempted abortion were young, single, and desperate. Some succeeded, but they experienced opposition from sexual partners, sexual exploitation by practitioners, serious health problems, social ostracism, and quasi-legal sanctions. Many informants reported the belief that inopportune pregnancies could be suspended for months or years using traditional medicine. We conclude that improved reproductive health education and services are urgently needed in rural Tanzania. PMID:19248715

The journal's reply to Mr. Fischer accurately pointed out that the journal had been misquoted but the addition of the word "human" to the journal's statement fails to alter the comments unless it is incorrectly maintained that the unborn child is not a biologically distinct entity or he or she is a member of another species. Consequently, Fischer's conclusions remain valid and unaddressed by the journal's response. The only exception that this writer would take to Fischer is his assertion that the pro-abortion-on-demand movement claims to have an internally consistent philosophy. In the final analysis, the crux of the matter is neither biological accuracy nor internal consistency. The basic question is whether 1 human being ever has the right to define and the inherent ability to discern the personhood of another human being. If the response is affirmative, then everyone, rather than the pregnant female only, should be permitted the right to determine whether another live human being is a "subperson" eligible for euthanasia. All individual human beings have an unalienable right to life and must be granted personhood until a scientific technique which can measure the abstract qualities of humanity is developed. PMID:637174

One of the primary design drivers for NASA's Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) is to ensure crew safety. Aborts during the critical ascent flight phase require the design and operation of CEV systems to escape from the Crew Launch Vehicle and return the crew safely to the Earth. To accomplish this requirement of continuous abort coverage, CEV ascent abort modes are being designed and analyzed to accommodate the velocity, altitude, atmospheric, and vehicle configuration changes that occur during ascent. The analysis involves an evaluation of the feasibility and survivability of each abort mode and an assessment of the abort mode coverage. These studies and design trades are being conducted so that more informed decisions can be made regarding the vehicle abort requirements, design, and operation. This paper presents an overview of the CEV, driving requirements for abort scenarios, and an overview of current ascent abort modes. Example analysis results are then discussed. Finally, future areas for abort analysis are addressed.

Background Despite the adoption of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act in 1972, access to safe abortion services remains limited in India. Awareness of the legality of abortion also remains low, leading many women to seek services outside the health system. Medical abortion (MA) is an option that has the potential to expand access to safe abortion services. A multi-pronged intervention covering a population of 161,000 in 253 villages in the Silli and Khunti blocks of Jharkhand was conducted between 2007 and 2009, seeking to improve medical abortion services and create awareness at the community level by providing information through community intermediaries and creating an enabling environment through a behavior change communication campaign. The study evaluates the changes in knowledge about abortion-related issues, changes in abortion care-seeking, and service utilization as a result of this intervention. Methods A baseline cross-sectional survey was conducted pre-intervention (n?=?1,253) followed by an endline survey (n?=?1,290) one year after the completion of the intervention phase. In addition, monitoring data from intervention facilities was collected monthly over the study period. Results Nearly 85% of respondents reported being exposed to safe abortion messaging as a result of the intervention. Awareness of the legality of abortion increased significantly from 19.7% to 57.6% for women, as did awareness of the specific conditions for which abortion is allowed. Results were similar for men. There was also a significant increase in the proportion of men and women who knew of a legal and safe provider and place from where abortion services could be obtained. Multivariate analysis showed positive associations between exposure to any component of the intervention and increased knowledge about legality and gestational age limits, however only interpersonal communication was associated with a significant increase in knowledge of where to obtain safe services (OR 4.8, SE 0.67). Utilization of safe abortion services, and in particular MA, increased at all intervention sites over the duration of the intervention with a shift towards women seeking care earlier in pregnancy. Conclusion The evaluation demonstrates the success of the intervention and its potential for replication in similar contexts within India. PMID:24886273

Replies to the request by the Journal of Nursing on readers' positions against induced abortion indicate there is a definite personal position against induced abortion and the assistance in this procedure. Some writers expressed an emotional "no" against induced abortion. Many quoted arguments from the literature, such as a medical dictionary definition as "a premeditated criminally induced abortion." The largest group of writers quoted from the Bible, the tenor always being: "God made man, he made us with his hands; we have no right to make the decision." People with other philosophies also objected. Theosophical viewpoint considers reincarnation and the law of cause and effect (karma). This philosophy holds that induced abortion impedes the appearance of a reincarnated being. The fundamental question in the abortion problem is, "can the fetus be considered a human life?" The German anatomist Professor E. Bleckschmidt points out that from conception there is human life, hence the fertilized cell can only develop into a human being and is not merely a piece of tissue. Professional nursing interpretation is that nursing action directed towards killing of a human being (unborn child) is against the nature and the essence of the nursing profession. A different opinion states that a nurse cares for patients who have decided for the operation. The nurse doesn't judge but respects the individual's decision. Some proabortion viewpoints considered the endangering of the mother's life by the unborn child, and the case of rape. With the arguments against abortion the question arises how to help the woman with unwanted pregnancy. Psychological counseling is emphasized as well as responsible and careful assistance. Referral to the Society for Protection of the Unborn Child (VBOK) is considered as well as other agencies. Further reader comments on this subject are solicited. PMID:6913282

This site, provided by Nolo Press, a publisher of self-help law books and software, is a handy compendium of brief advice on fifteen topics, including small business, patent, copyright & trademark, legal research, wills & estate planning, and real estate. Content is composed of excerpted articles from Nolo books on the topics. Also provided are annotated lists of links related to each topic. While the purpose, of course, is to sell Nolo books and software, there is much useful content here.

Abortable Reader-Writer Locks are No More Complex Than Abortable Mutex Locks Dartmouth Computer on designing abortable mutual exclusion locks, and fairly efficient algorithms of O(log n) RMR complexity have). The abort feature is just as important for a reader-writer lock as it is for a mutual exclusion lock

Diagnosing Abortion Problems Abortions can represent a significant loss of (potential) income- hood of diagnosing the cause of any abortions that may occur. In some situations, the prompt diagnosis of an abortion may help reduce the severity of an impending outbreak. Well-kept records can be very useful

Background Every year 42 million women with unintended pregnancies choose abortion, and fifty percent of these procedures, 20 million are unsafe. An unsafe abortion is defined as a procedure for terminating an unintended pregnancy carried out either by person lacking the necessary skills or in an environment that does not conform to minimal medical standards or both. Pakistan is the one of the six countries where more than 50% of the world’s all maternal deaths occur. It is estimated that 890,000 induced abortions are performed annually in Pakistan, and estimate an annual abortion rate of 29 per 1000 women aged 15-49. Case presentation Here we present a case report of a 29-year old woman who underwent an unsafe abortion for unintended pregnancy resulting in uterine perforation. The unskilled provider pulled out her bowel through vagina after perforating the uterus, as a result she lost major portion of her small intestine resulting in short bowel syndrome. Conclusion The law of Pakistan only allows abortion during early stages of pregnancy for purpose of saving the life of a mother but does not cater for cases of rape, incest and fetal abnormalities or social reasons. Only legalization of abortion is not sufficient, preventing unintended pregnancy should be the priority of all the nations and for this reason contraception should be widely accessible. Practitioners need to become better trained in safer abortion methods and be to able transfer the patient to health facility when complications occur. PMID:24131627

The advent of RU 486 (mifepristone), a steroid analogue capable of inducing menses within 8 to 10 weeks of a missed menstrual period, has provoked a firestorm of concern and controversy. When used in conjunction with prostaglandin (RU 486/PG), it is at least 95% effective. Used in France principally to terminate confirmed pregnancies very early in the process of gestation, RU 486 raises many interesting legal questions. This article focuses on whether and how RU 486/PG can be accommodated within the framework of the world's current abortion laws. Four avenues are explored and conclusions drawn. First, it is clear that RU 486/PG can be used readily, if approved, within the regimens established by liberal abortion laws, as has been the experience in France, the United Kingdom, and even China. Second, although unlikely, the introduction of this new technology may inspire a reexamination of restrictive abortion statutes themselves. Third, some of the presently restrictive laws may be interpreted to permit RU 486/PG use as a legal procedure, for a very narrow range of reasons. Finally, in some settings the early use of RU 486/PG (before pregnancy can be confirmed) may fall outside the reach of abortion legislation and hence be acceptable from a legal point of view. PMID:1415870

This study examines the impact of various restrictive abortion laws on nonmarital childbearing since the passage of the 1996 welfare reform bill. The empirical results find that the price of an abortion, a Medicaid funding restriction, and a waiting period law are associated with a decrease in a state's nonmarital birthrate. The negative effects of restrictive abortion laws on a

This paper examines the extent to which there may be differences in attitudes toward abortion and intentions when one is faced with making an abortion decision for oneself. Data from a 1977 national survey were used. The results indicated that while such differences existed only on a limited scale in medically indicated situations of abortion, discretionary situations had a sizable

OBJECTIVE: Previous reports have suggested that serum CA 125 levels in patients who spontaneously abort in the first trimester of pregnancy differ from the levels of patients who successfully complete their pregnancies. Low CA 125 levels have been suggested to predict spontaneous abortion, although an increased rate of first-trimester spontaneous abortion has also been reported in women with elevated CA

NASA goals are set on resumption of human activity on the Moon and extending manned missions to Mars. Abort options are key elements of any system designed to safeguard human lives and stated requirements stipulate the provision of an abort capability throughout the mission. The present investigation will focus on the formulation and analysis of possible abort modes during the

Recurrent pregnancy loss associated with immunologic abnormalities has been termed immunologic abortion. Immunologic abortion occurs primarily in women over the age of 30 years and may affect either natural or in-vitro fertilization (IVF)-induced pregnancy. In this article, we review the humoral and cellular immunologic abnormalities that have been associated with this form of recurrent abortion, and we discuss treatment options

Abortions in Cattle Max Irsik DVM, MAB Beef Cattle Extension Veterinarian University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine Abortion is the premature expulsion of the fetus from the dam and usually have died in-utero due to disease and was expelled. Depending upon the cause of "abortion" a cow may

This review examines the relationship between maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy and spontaneous abortions. Although very high spontaneous abortion rates have been reported for alcoholic women, it is still uncertain if this is due to the direct effects of alcohol or the indirect effects of alcoholism-re lated disorders such as cirrhosis. The higher rates of spontaneous abortion among alcoholics may

Measured psychological sequelae to induced abortion among women pregnant out of wedlock, using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and questions specific to willingness to repeat abortion under similar circumstances. Analyses indicated no relation between objective and subjective indicators. Affectivity after induced abortion had…

Background: Abortion is a public health concern because of its impact on maternal morbidity and mortality. Each year, about 79 million unintended pregnancies, excluding miscarriage, occur worldwide. More than half of these unintended pregnancies end in abortion. The purpose of this study was to determine the ever-event incidence of abortion (spontaneous and induced) and some related factors in a population-based

The question of whether abortion should be legal is currently being decided in many countries. Although much of the discussion has focused on ethical issues, the public health consequences should not be overlooked and should be addressed realistically and responsibly. Nowhere are the public health manifestations of restricted abortion more apparent than in Romania. The pronatalist policies of the Ceaucescu regime resulted in the highest maternal mortality rate in Europe (approximately 150 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births) and in thousands of unwanted children in institutions. PMID:1415854

a 17-year-old gravida 1, para 0, single white girl who had undergone criminal abortion, presented at the hospital with high fever and red urine. Her vital signs were monitored and laboratory tests were performed. A total abdominal hysterectomy and salpingo-oophorectomy were performed because of gangrenous uterus and ovaries. The patient developed postoperative complications and blood transfusion was performed. The criminal abortion was induced using some type of liquid (eg., Lysol) that was injected into the uterus transvaginally. The use of Lysol, soap and detergents in criminal abortion produces an area of tissue necrosis. The compounds are also absorbed into the bloodstream. The necrotic tissue is susceptible to infection, while the part which is absorbed into the bloodstream is nephrotoxic, hepatotoxic and produces hemolysis. Common complications of septic abortion are pelvic abscesses; metastatic abscesses; tetanus; renal insufficiency; cortical necrosis; and acute tubular necrosis. Coagulation abnormalities, as well as the psychological, economic and legal aspects of septic abortion are also discussed. It is hoped that all physicians would actively support legislation which would liberalize abortion laws. PMID:5506161

2 groups of patients are at risk of traumatic complication after midtrimester abortion: older multiparous women (uterine ruptures) and young primigravid women (cervical ruptures). While the occurrence of uterine ruptures in the former class can be reduced by selective use of abortifacient agents, and avoidance of amnioinfusions and intravenous oxytocin, the occurrence of cervical ruptures continues to be high. From May 1974 through May 1978, 780 women underwent midtrimester abortion by various techniques. 12 patients (1.5%) sustained cervical injuries, 11 of whom were nulliparous aged 16 to 25 years. Intra-amniotic and extra-ovular methods alike produced cervical injuries. The combined method of induction increases the likelihood of damaging the cervix. Oxytocic augmentation, however, does not appear to increase its incidence. Nor does a shorter induction-abortion interval, according to the evidence. Since laminaria tents did not prevent cervical injuries, none of the presently available methods offers any protection. Nevertheless, it may be that cervical injuries can be prevented if midtrimester abortions are undertaken between 13 and 15 weeks of pregnancy. Cervical ruptures can also go unnoticed and cause future obstetric problems; the authors therefore emphasize the importance of routine cervical inspection in all patients. PMID:12335921

In 'After-birth abortion: why should the baby live?', Giubilini and Minerva argue that infanticide should be permitted for the same reasons as abortion. In particular, they argue that infanticide should be permitted even for reasons that do not primarily serve the interests (or would-be best interests) of the newborn. They claim that abortion is permissible for reasons that do not primarily serve the interests (or would-be interests) of the fetus because fetuses lack a right to life. They argue that newborns also lack a right to life, and they conclude that therefore, the same reasons that justify abortion can justify infanticide. This conclusion does not follow. The lack of a right to life is not decisive. Furthermore, the justificatory power of a given reason is a function of moral context. Generalisations about reasons across dissimilar moral contexts are invalid. However, a similar conclusion does follow-that fetus-killing and newborn-killing are morally identical in identical moral contexts-but this conclusion is trivial, since fetuses and newborns are never in identical moral contexts. PMID:23637451

One known complication of induced abortion is upper genital tract infection, which is relatively uncommon in the current era of safe, legalabortion. Currently, rates of upper genital tract infection in the setting of legal induced abortion in the United States are generally less than 1%. Randomized controlled trials support the use of prophylactic antibiotics for surgical abortion in the first trimester. For medical abortion, treatment-dose antibiotics may lower the risk of serious infection. However, the number-needed-to-treat is high. Consequently, the balance of risk and benefits warrants further investigation. Perioperative oral doxycycline given up to 12 h before a surgical abortion appears to effectively reduce infectious risk. Antibiotics that are continued after the procedure for extended durations meet the definition for a treatment regimen rather than a prophylactic regimen. Prophylactic efficacy of antibiotics begun after abortion has not been demonstrated in controlled trials. Thus, the current evidence supports pre-procedure but not post-procedure antibiotics for the purpose of prophylaxis. No controlled studies have examined the efficacy of antibiotic prophylaxis for induced surgical abortion beyond 15 weeks of gestation. The risk of infection is not altered when an intrauterine device is inserted immediately post-procedure. The presence of Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae or acute cervicitis carries a significant risk of upper genital tract infection; this risk is significantly reduced with antibiotic prophylaxis. Women with bacterial vaginosis (BV) also have an elevated risk of post-procedural infection as compared with women without BV; however, additional prophylactic antibiotics for women with known BV has not been shown to reduce their risk further than with use of typical pre-procedure antibiotic prophylaxis. Accordingly, evidence to support pre-procedure screening for BV is lacking. Neither povidone-iodine nor chlorhexidine have been shown to alter the risk of infection when used as cervicovaginal preparation. However, chlorhexidine appears to be more effective than povidone iodine at reducing bacteria within the vagina. The Society of Family Planning recommends the routine use of antibiotic prophylaxis, preferably with doxycycline, before surgical abortion. Use of treatment doses of antibiotics with medical abortion may decrease the rare risk of serious infection but universal requirement for such treatment has not been established. PMID:21397086

This article was written in support of a claim forwarded by Joan Callahan that fetal intracardiac potassium chloride injection (KCl injection) should be offered to women undergoing second-trimester abortion. Callahan provides three positive arguments for use of the technique: maternal safety, the short-term interests of fetuses, and the longterm interests of fetuses who survive the abortion. The author of this article notes that the fact that KCl injection is currently the safest procedure for the mother is argument enough in favor of offering the procedure. Even physicians who object to the procedure are obligated to inform their patients about it and should be encouraged to help their patients locate a physician willing to perform KCl injection. Callahan's argument about fetal pain is sound but unnecessary as long as KCl injection remains the safest procedure for the mother. The argument about preventing longterm suffering for fetuses who survive late abortion is the weakest because it is impossible to determine whether the fetuses would be better off dead or alive. Hospitals can resolve some of the dilemmas which are associated with KCl injection by having a well thought out and clearly communicated policy about resuscitation of an aborted fetus. Callahan argues that the policy should be a blanket "do not resuscitate." The author is less sure that a blanket policy in either direction would be correct. Since it is impossible to know in advance what is best for the child, other factors must determine whether one policy is preferable to another. These include legal considerations such as the Americans with Disabilities Act which prohibits discrimination against disabled individuals in hospitals. PMID:8605391

This target article considers the ethical implications of providing prenatal diagnosis (PND) and antenatal screening services to detect fetal abnormalities in jurisdictions that prohibit abortion for these conditions. This unusual health policy context is common in the Latin American region. Congenital conditions are often untreated or under-treated in developing countries due to limited health resources, leading many women/couples to prefer termination of affected pregnancies. Three potential harms derive from the provision of PND in the absence of legal and safe abortion for these conditions: psychological distress, unjust distribution of burdens between socio-economic classes, and financial burdens for families and society. We present Iran as a comparative case study where recognition of these ethical issues has led to the liberalization of abortion laws for fetuses with thalassemia. We argue that physicians, geneticists and policymakers have an ethical and professional duty of care to advocate for change in order to ameliorate these harms. PMID:19998163

A doctor who performed an abortion in Poland faces two years in prison and the loss of his medical license for up to 10 years if he is found guilty of violating the new abortion laws introduced in 1993 after a lengthy campaign by the Catholic church and the Christian Democratic Union party. The new laws permit abortion when the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother, presents a serious health threat to the mother, is the result of rape or incest, or will result in the birth of a irreversibly and seriously malformed fetus. In this case, the woman had the abortion because she could not afford to support the child on her own; her former lover faces two years in prison if he is convicted of having paid for the operation. The new law follows a 40-year period of liberal abortion laws under the communist regime when abortion was seen as a form of contraception; an estimated 100,000 abortions occurred in the 1980s. The number of recorded abortions decreased to 777 (nine were in contravention of the law) in 1993. However, some abortions have gone underground; this one surfaced because of an angry former lover. Doctors can now charge two months' salary for the illegal operation, forcing many of the women go to Russia, Belarus, or the Ukraine where the operation is cheaper. Other women take matters into their own hands; one woman murdered the baby she would have aborted earlier. PMID:7787640

Sixteen cases of intestinal injuries following illegally induced abortion are reviewed. They constituted 2% of all such cases in the study period. Ten were terminal ileal injuries while six were colonic. Colonic injuries were predominantly encountered in the first trimester. The relative fixity of the terminal ileum and pelvic colon may be a factor in the determination of the site of injury. Morbidity and mortality are related to both gestational age and site of injury. PMID:6152800

This article deals with the relation between a theory of law and a theory of legal reasoning. Starting from a close reading of Chapter VII of H. L. A. Hart's The Concept of Law, it claims that a theory of law like Hart's requires a particular theory of legal reasoning, or at least a theory of legal reasoning with some

Debate exists over whether fetuses feel pain, and if so what to do about it. Because they cannot provide self-report, certitude on the question cannot be reached. The essay argues that a presumption of reasonable doubt is adequate to inform moral behavior. It looks at the most recent evidence from fetal anatomical, neurochemical, physiological and behavioral research and concludes that a reasonable doubt exists that fetuses from 20 to 23 weeks do not feel pain. It proposes that where abortion is legal, providers should be legally required both to provide full disclosure of the possibility of fetal pain starting at 20 weeks and to offer pain-relief measures to suppress fetal pain to all women seeking an abortion. PMID:23285794

Abortion Rights in Latin America (NYT) 539 words Published: January 6, 2006 For proof that criminalizing abortion doesn't reduce abortion rates and only endangers the lives of women, consider Latin America. In most of the region, abortions are a crime, but the abortion rate is far higher than in Western

Introduction: In spite of legalising abortion and making safe abortion available at affordable price at accessible distance to almost everyone, unsafe abortion especially second trimester abortion is still a big health problem in Nepal. Objective: The objective of the study is to fi nd the demographic profi le, reasons for seeking abortion and to see the effectiveness of Misoprostol in

Over the past three years, a great volume of legislation on abortion has been produced by state legislatures in an attempt to fill the vacuum created by the United States Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade. This Article examines several of the most common types of statutory provisions and assesses their constitutionality in light of Roe v. Wade and other applicable federal and state legal standards. PMID:973625

Context The last decade witnessed growing differences in abortion dynamics in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine despite demographic, social, and historical similarities of these nations. This paper investigates changes in birth control practices in the three countries and searches for an explanation of the diverging trends in abortion. Methods Official abortion and contraceptive use statistics, provided by national statistical agencies, were analysed. Respective laws and other legal documents were examined and compared between the three countries. To disclose inter-country differences in prevalence of the modern methods of contraception and its association with major demographic and social factors, an analysis of data from national sample surveys was performed, including binary logistic regression. Results The growing gap in abortion rate in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine is a genuine phenomenon, not a statistical artefact. The examination of abortion and prevalence of contraception based on official statistics and three national sample surveys did not reveal any unambiguous factors that could explain differences in abortion dynamics in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. However, it is very likely that the cause of the inter-country discrepancies lies in contraceptive behavior itself, in adequacies of contraceptive knowledge and practices. Additionally, large differences in government policies, which are very important in shaping contraceptive practices of the population, were detected. Conclusion Since the end of the 1990s, the Russian government switched to archaic ideology in the area of reproductive health and family planning and neglects evidence-based arguments. Such an extreme turn in the governmental position is not observed in Belarus or Ukraine. This is an important factor contributing to the slowdown in the decrease of abortion rates in Russia. PMID:23349656

This study examines the impact of various restrictive abortion laws on nonmarital childbearing since the passage of the 1996 welfare reform bill. The empirical results find that the price of an abortion, a Medicaid funding restriction, and a waiting period law are associated with a decrease in a state's nonmarital birthrate. The negative effects of restrictive abortion laws on a state's nonmarital birthrate are found to occur in various age groups. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that restrictive abortion laws induce unmarried women to change their level of unprotected sexual activity or contraceptive behavior, thereby reducing the likelihood of an unwanted nonmarital pregnancy. PMID:20818592

??Problem area: It is important to understand how women view their abortion experiences retrospectively, how they reconstruct their meaning after undergoing personal, psychological and emotional… (more)

This paper provides a general overview of trends in the United States (US) birth, fertility and abortion data from 1960 to 2002. Rates by age, race and Hispanic origin are also discussed. Data presented in this paper are derived primarily from published reports of the US government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. In 2002, there were 4,021,726 births in the US. The general fertility rate was 64.8 births per 1,000 women aged 15-44 years, the total fertility rate was 2013.0 children per 1,000 women, and the net reproduction rate was 968 daughters per 1000 women. These rates have declined in the US since 1960, down by at least 44% for all rates. While these rates have been declining, there are substantial differences in fertility patterns by age and race and Hispanic origin. Rates for women, 30 years of age and over, increased between 1980 and 2002. In contrast, rates for women under 25 years of age rose considerably during the late 1980s, and then decreased sharply since 1991. Rates for women in their late twenties (25-29 years of age), the principal childbearing ages, have fluctuated within a narrow range throughout this period (1980-2002). As a result of the increase in births to older women, the mean age of mother at first birth increased by nearly 4 years from 1968 to 2002. In 2000, the latest year for which data are available, there were 21.3 induced abortions per 1000 women aged 15-44 years, down from 27.4 in 1990. The total abortion rate, average number of legally induced abortions that would occur to a hypothetical cohort of 1000 women, was 672.0 abortions per 1,000 women in 2000, down from 785.5 in 1980. The abortion rate has declined fairly steadily since 1980. Like the birth and fertility rates, substantial differences in abortion rates exist by age and race and Hispanic origin. The rates of induced abortion increased for women in their thirties between 1980 and 2000, whereas rates for women under 25 years of age and women 40 years of age and over decreased since 1980. The rate for women 25-29 years of age changed little. The rate of induced abortion was considerably higher for non-Hispanic black women (57.4) in 2000 than for non-Hispanic white women (11.7). The rate for Hispanic women (30.6) was intermediate. The total abortion rate was also much higher for non-Hispanic black women than non-Hispanic white and Hispanic women. PMID:16466522

... —(1) Life of mother. FFP is available in expenditures for abortion services when a physician has found that the abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother. (2) Rape or...in expenditures for abortion services...

... —(1) Life of mother. FFP is available in expenditures for abortion services when a physician has found that the abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother. (2) Rape or...in expenditures for abortion services...

The J-2X is an expendable liquid hydrogen (LH2)/liquid oxygen (LOX) gas generator cycle rocket engine that is currently being designed as the primary upper stage propulsion element for the new NASA Ares vehicle family. The J-2X engine will contain abort logic that functions as an integral component of the Ares vehicle abort system. This system is responsible for detecting and responding to conditions indicative of impending Loss of Mission (LOM), Loss of Vehicle (LOV), and/or catastrophic Loss of Crew (LOC) failure events. As an earth orbit ascent phase engine, the J-2X is a high power density propulsion element with non-negligible risk of fast propagation rate failures that can quickly lead to LOM, LOV, and/or LOC events. Aggressive reliability requirements for manned Ares missions and the risk of fast propagating J-2X failures dictate the need for on-engine abort condition monitoring and autonomous response capability as well as traditional abort agents such as the vehicle computer, flight crew, and ground control not located on the engine. This paper describes the baseline J-2X abort subsystem concept of operations, as well as the development process for this subsystem. A strategy that leverages heritage system experience and responds to an evolving engine design as well as J-2X specific test data to support abort system development is described. The utilization of performance and failure simulation models to support abort system sensor selection, failure detectability and discrimination studies, decision threshold definition, and abort system performance verification and validation is outlined. The basis for abort false positive and false negative performance constraints is described. Development challenges associated with information shortfalls in the design cycle, abort condition coverage and response assessment, engine-vehicle interface definition, and abort system performance verification and validation are also discussed.

We explored how low-income abortion clients in states where public funding was and was not available perceived the role of public funding for abortion. From October 2010 through February 2011, we conducted 71 semi-structured in-depth telephone interviews with low-income abortion clients in Arizona, Florida, New York, and Oregon. Women reported weighing numerous factors when determining which circumstances warranted public funding. Though most women generally supported coverage, they deviated from their initial support when asked about particular circumstances. Respondents felt most strongly that abortion should not be covered when a woman could not afford another child or was pregnant outside of a romantic relationship. Participants used disparaging language to describe the presumed behavior of women faced with unintended pregnancies. In seeking to discredit "other" women's abortions, women revealed the complex nature of abortion stigma. We propose that women's abortion experiences and subsequent opinions on coverage indicated three distinct manifestations of abortion stigma: women (1) resisted the prominent discourse that marks women who have had abortions as selfish and irresponsible; (2) internalized societal norms that stereotype women based on the circumstances surrounding the abortion; and (3) reproduced stigma by distancing themselves from the negative stereotypes associated with women who have had abortions. PMID:25068780

an abort message. In such a situation, we want to investigate methods to effectively withdraw or minimizeAborting a Message Flowing Through Social Communities Cindy Hui Rutgers University Piscataway, New source. There is a trade off between a fast effective spread of actionable information and the ability

Aborting a Message Flowing Through Social Communities Cindy Hui, Malik Magdon-Ismail, William A message directly from the information source. There is a trade off between a fast effective spread in designing a useful abort mechanism. Index Terms--agent-based simulation, information diffusion, information

ABORTING CONFLICTING TRANSACTIONS IN AN STM PPOPP'09 2/17/2009 Hany Ramadan, Indrajit Roy, Emmett Witchel University of Texas at Austin Maurice Herlihy Brown University Committing #12;TM AND ITS DISCONTENTS Contention is a challenge for TM Performance suffers due to aborts/stalls Transactions become

2 Abstract: The present study was carried out on a flock of sheep and goats suffered from late abortion with incidences of 35.6 and 43.7%, respectively. Toxoplasmosis was a prime suspect. Blood samples were taken from infected dams for serological examination. Tissue samples were collected from internal organs of aborted feti for bacteriological examination, PCR and histopathological study. Serological examinations

This paper argues that the central issue in the abortion debate has not changed since 1967 when the English parliament enacted the Abortion Act. That central issue concerns the moral status of the human fetus. The debate here is not, it is argued, primarily a moral debate, but rather a metaphysical debate and\\/or a theological debate—though one with massive moral

This study attempts to ascertain the reasons that l ead women to abortion and assess the extent of the involvement of their husband or male partner in the pregnancy decision making. A total 304 of women who received safe abortion services during the eigh t-month period from 8 clinics of Family Planning Association of Nepal (FPAN) constitute the sample s

PURPOSE: Spontaneous abortion (SAB), the most common adverse pregnancy outcome, affects ?15% of clinically recognized pregnancies. Except for advanced maternal age and smoking, there are not well-established risk factors for SAB. Animal models associate increased fetal resorption or abortion with exposure to the pesticide dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT), but epidemiologic investigations of DDT and SAB are inconsistent. We undertook a pilot

Public rhetoric on abortion and the journalistic coverage of it has matured in tone and content over the years since women's magazines first broke a long public silence on the issue in the 1940s. Since the 1970s, extremist views on abortion have dominated the press. But new common ground arguments represent an emergence of the feminine ethical response of care

Abstract Objective To improve understanding of the attitudes, beliefs, and experiences of Muslim patients presenting for abortion. Design Exploratory study in which participants completed questionnaires about their attitudes, beliefs, and experiences. Setting Two urban, free-standing abortion clinics. Participants Fifty-three self-identified Muslim patients presenting for abortion. Main outcome measures Women’s background, beliefs, and attitudes toward their religion and toward abortion; levels of anxiety, depression, and guilt, scored on a scale of 0 to 10; and degree of pro-choice or anti-choice attitude toward abortion, assessed by having respondents identify under which circumstances a woman should be able to have an abortion. Results The 53 women in this study were a diverse group, aged 17 to 47 years, born in 17 different countries, with a range of beliefs and attitudes toward abortion. As found in previous studies, women who were less pro-choice (identified fewer acceptable reasons to have an abortion) had higher anxiety and guilt scores than more pro-choice women did: 6.9 versus 4.9 (P = .01) and 6.9 versus 3.6 (P = .004), respectively. Women who said they strongly agreed that abortion was against Islamic principles also had higher anxiety and guilt scores: 9.3 versus 5.9 (P = .03) and 9.5 versus 5.3 (P = .03), respectively. Conclusion Canadian Muslim women presenting for abortion come from many countries and schools of Islam. The group of Muslim women that we surveyed was so diverse that no generalizations can be made about them. Their attitudes toward abortion ranged from being completely pro-choice to believing abortion is wrong unless it is done to save a woman’s life. Many said they found their religion to be a source of comfort as well as a source of guilt, turning to prayer and meditation to cope with their feelings about the abortion. It is important that physicians caring for Muslim women understand that their patients come from a variety of backgrounds and can have widely differing beliefs. It might be helpful to be aware that patients who hold more anti-choice beliefs are likely to experience more anxiety and guilt related to their abortion than pro-choice patients do. PMID:21626898

Background Identifying unsafe abortion among the major causes of maternal deaths and respecting the rights to health of women, in 2002, the Nepali parliament liberalized abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy on request. However, enhancing women’s awareness on and access to safe and legalabortion services, particularly in rural areas, remains a challenge in Nepal despite a decade of the initiation of safe abortion services. Methods Between January 2011 and December 2012, an operations research study was carried out using quasi-experimental design to determine the effectiveness of engaging female community health volunteers, auxiliary nurse midwives, and nurses to provide medical abortion services from outreach health facilities to increase the accessibility and acceptability of women to medical abortion. This paper describes key components of the operations research study, key research findings, and follow-up actions that contributed to create a conducive environment and evidence in scaling up medical abortion services in rural areas of Nepal. Results It was found that careful planning and implementation, continuous advocacy, and engagement of key stakeholders, including key government officials, from the planning stage of study is not only crucial for successful completion of the project but also instrumental for translating research results into action and policy change. While challenges remained at different levels, medical abortion services delivered by nurses and auxiliary nurse midwives working at rural outreach health facilities without oversight of physicians was perceived to be accessible, effective, and of good quality by the service providers and the women who received medical abortion services from these rural health facilities. Conclusions This research provided further evidence and a road-map for expanding medical abortion services to rural areas by mid-level service providers in minimum clinical settings without the oversight of physicians, thus reducing complications and deaths due to unsafe abortion. PMID:24886393

Currently Catholic bishops are applying an inconsistent ethical paradigm to the issues of war and abortion. Based on the seamless garment theory war, abortion and capital punishment are all immoral acts because they are of the same garment. They are all "killing acts" and as such they are immoral. However there is within the Catholic paradigm the idea of a just war. The just war theory states that the destruction of human life in war is justified if it is for a greater good. However abortion has no exceptions, there is no just abortion in the rules of the Catholic Church. The author takes the just war doctrine as presented by the Catholic Church and shows how it could easily apply to abortion. Both war and abortion involve the taking of a human life, but in the case of war the taking of a life is justified if it is done to protect your own life. The same exception in abortion would be to allow abortion when the mother's life is in danger. yet no such exception exists. The just war theory further states that was is necessary to protect national integrity, particularly if the violation erodes the quality of life for its citizens. The same exception for abortion would include allowing abortions for women who already have more children then they can care for or if having the child would erode the quality of life for the woman. Other aspects of the just war theory include the competence and goals of the national leaders. Women must also be allowed to be competent moral agents. Proponents of the seamless garment theory will bring up the fact that in a just war only combatants die yet the fetus is innocent. But no war has ever been fought without the loss of innocent civilians. PMID:12178844

Opposition to abortion is often tied to opposition to contraception. This is because opinions on abortion do not occur in isolation, they are part of a world view that is against sex for pleasure, and therefore against contraception. Many anti-abortion groups are under the false impression that contraception increases the number of abortions. There is no scientific evidence for this claim. It is also common sense that contraception prevents abortion because it prevents so many unwanted pregnancies. If a woman uses contraceptives, she must not want to be pregnant. Therefore, every cycle she has without becoming pregnant is the prevention of an unwanted pregnancy. In the 1960s the early studies of the pill had 6000 cycles without a single pregnancy. The anti-abortion lobby has had an influence on the politics of the US concerning abortion and it is also having an effect on the politics of contraception. Many anti-abortion groups are against premarital sex and advocate abstinence as the preferable method but there is no evidence that abstinence is an effective method of preventing unwanted pregnancies, especially in teens. Contraceptive research is being hindered by political pressure from anti-abortion groups. Postovulatory contraceptive research is prohibited in many facilities. The National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine in Washington, DC published an extensive report detailing the problems of getting new contraceptives researched and developed in the US. The report notes that federal funding for contraceptive development rose only $6 million between 1973-87, from $7.4 to $13.2 million. While there are a wide variety of problems, pressure from anti-abortion groups is considered to have had an adverse affect. Many groups advocate drug company boycotts. PMID:12317308

In this reflection on abortion, we will analyze from the bioethics viewpoint the concept of autonomy, in accordance with the liberal individual model and personal ambitions to be applied to the woman's and the doctor's decision making and the society in general. Now that the abortion liberalization is being proposed in Spain through a law that intends to substitute the decriminalization of certain assumptions that have been in effect since 1985, it is necessary to analyze in deep the ethical aspects beyond the legal and social approaches. Bioethics and Law must join together, since both have the same aim: the promotion of human life respect and its basic rights; safeguard -as long as possible-, the values within an interpersonal relationship that lead to fulfill a woman's life having an unwanted pregnancy, as well as that of the fetus and the doctor; and always trying to protect the rights of those who are the weakest: the woman and the fetus, without disregarding everyone's duties with them. PMID:20405975

The precise nature and scope of healthcare confidentiality has long been the subject of debate. While the obligation of confidentiality is integral to professional ethical codes and is also safeguarded under English law through the equitable remedy of breach of confidence, underpinned by the right to privacy enshrined in Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998, it has never been regarded as absolute. But when can and should personal information be made available for statistical and research purposes and what if the information in question is highly sensitive information, such as that relating to the termination of pregnancy after 24 weeks? This article explores the case of In the Matter of an Appeal to the Information Tribunal under section 57 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, concerning the decision of the Department of Health to withhold some statistical data from the publication of its annual abortion statistics. The specific data being withheld concerned the termination for serious fetal handicap under section 1(1)d of the Abortion Act 1967. The paper explores the implications of this case, which relate both to the nature and scope of personal privacy. It suggests that lessons can be drawn from this case about public interest and use of statistical information and also about general policy issues concerning the legal regulation of confidentiality and privacy in the future. PMID:21708829

Teenage pregnancy is a complex issue in the current sociopolitical milieu. The enactment of abortion laws adds to the complexity of the problem, involving moral and ethical issues, as well as social, economic, and health status consequences that should be considered in the development of legislation surrounding this issue. The tree of impact diagram is a mechanism for forecasting possible consequences of abortion laws. Historical, social, developmental, economic, and legal forces are considered in creating the tree of impact in relation to the health and well-being of teenage mothers and their children. PMID:1931264

In today’s legal environment, it is unlikely that a physician will complete a medical career without being introduced to the legal system in some way. Despite this, medical education often does not incorporate a basic teaching of general legal principles, and many physicians are left unaware of some of the important legal aspects of practicing medicine. The purpose of this article is to provide a background of the essential legal principles of a malpractice action as well as review the fundamentals of the legal process, provide published caselaw of prior dermatological pitfalls, and ultimately, provide suggestions to better prepare the dermatologist to practice medicine. PMID:20725583

Objectives To quantify trends in changing sex ratios of births before and after the legalisation of abortion in Nepal. While sex-selective abortion is common in some Asian countries, it is not clear whether the legal status of abortion is associated with the prevalence of sex-selection when sex-selection is illegal. In this context, Nepal provides an interesting case study. Abortion was legalised in 2002 and prior to that, there was no evidence of sex-selective abortion. Changes in the sex ratio at birth since legalisation would suggest an association with legalisation, even though sex-selection is expressly prohibited. Design Analysis of data from four Demographic and Health Surveys, conducted in 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011. Setting Nepal. Participants 31?842 women aged 15–49. Main outcome measure Conditional sex ratios (CSRs) were calculated, specifically the CSR for second-born children where the first-born was female. This CSR is where the evidence of sex-selective abortion will be most visible. CSRs were looked at over time to assess the impact of legalisation as well as for population sub-groups in order to identify characteristics of women using sex-selection. Results From 2007 to 2010, the CSR for second-order births where the first-born was a girl was found to be 742 girls per 1000 boys (95% CI 599 to 913). Prior to legalisation of abortion (1998–2000), the same CSR was 1021 (906–1150). After legalisation, it dropped most among educated and richer women, especially in urban areas. Just 325 girls were born for every 1000 boys among the richest urban women. Conclusions The fall in CSRs witnessed post-legalisation indicates that sex-selective abortion is becoming more common. This change is very likely driven by both supply and demand factors. Falling fertility has intensified the need to bear a son sooner, while legalabortion services have reduced the costs and risks associated with obtaining an abortion. PMID:23674444

I estimate the effect of state minimum legal drinking ages (MLDA) on teen pregnancy, birth, and abortion rates using individual level data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Results from a discrete-time hazard model indicate that a decrease in the MLDA below 21 years increases the probability of pregnancy among black teens and, surprisingly, decreases the probability of pregnancy

I estimate the effect of state minimum legal drinking ages (MLDA) on teen pregnancy, birth, and abortion rates using individual level data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Results from a discrete-time hazard model indicate that a decrease in the MLDA below 21 years increases the probability of pregnancy among black teens and, surprisingly, decreases the probability of pregnancy

Solo-fast Universal Constructions for Deterministic Abortable Objects Claire Capdevielle, Colette. In this paper we study efficient implementations for deterministic abortable objects. Deterministic abortableabort to indicate that the operation failed (and did not take effect) when there is contention

Despite 30 years of liberal legislation, the majority of women in India still lack access to safe abortion care. This paper critically reviews the history of abortion law and policy in India since the 1960s and research on abortion service delivery. Amendments in 2002 and 2003 to the 1971 Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, including devolution of regulation of abortion

Purpose This study aims to assess the effects of obtaining an abortion versus being denied an abortion on self-esteem and life satisfaction. Methods We present the first 2.5 years of a 5-year longitudinal telephone-interview study that follows 956 women who sought an abortion from 30 facilities across the USA. We examine the self-esteem and life satisfaction trajectories of women who sought and received abortions just under the facility’s gestational age limit, of women who sought and received abortions in their first trimester of pregnancy, and of women who sought abortions just beyond the facility gestational limit and were denied an abortion. We use adjusted mixed effects linear regression analyses to assess whether the trajectories of women who sought and obtained an abortion differ from those who were denied one. Results Women denied an abortion initially reported lower self-esteem and life satisfaction than women who sought and obtained an abortion. For all study groups, except those who obtained first trimester abortions, self-esteem and life satisfaction improved over time. The initially lower levels of self-esteem and life satisfaction among women denied an abortion improved more rapidly reaching similar levels as those obtaining abortions at 6 months to one year after abortion seeking. For women obtaining first trimester abortions, initially higher levels of life satisfaction remained steady over time. Conclusions There is no evidence that abortion harms women’s self-esteem or life satisfaction in the short term. PMID:24740325

Examined feelings of well-being in 217 women who had abortions. Results suggest that, compared to women who have not had abortions, those who choose abortion feel more negatively. Of women choosing abortion, those who are already mothers are most likely to be depressed and lonely, followed by those from lower educational and socioeconomic…

The availability of abortion provides insurance against unwanted pregnancies since abortion is the only birth control method which allows women to avoid an unwanted birth once they are pregnant. Restrictive state abortion policies, which increase the cost of obtaining an abortion, may increase women's incentive to alter their pregnancy avoidance…

This research examines 23 different laws passed by state governments in an effort to restrict the number of abortions. It assesses both laws passed and laws actually enforced after the Supreme Court permitted states to restrict access to abortion in 1989. None of the policy actions by state governments has had a significant impact on the incidence of abortion from 1982 to 1992. Abortion rates continue to reflect past abortion rates, the number of abortion providers, whether the state funds abortions for Medicaid-eligible women, urbanism, and racial composition of the population. Recent restrictive policies have not affected these trends. PMID:8875064

Some university and college students object to paying mandatory fees which are used to provide a wide array of student-related services. Specifically, they object to the institution using a portion of the fees to provide abortions and abortion-related services in the university health services. Students who reject abortion on religious grounds claim that their 1st Amendment rights are violated when they are required to pay these fees as a condition of matriculation at the institution. Should student legal challenges eventually come before the US Supreme Court, 4 Court cases (3 addressing the "burdensome effect on an individual's free exercise of religion," the other in which the "Court emphasized its general reluctance to involve itself in 'delicate issues concerning the academic community'") and 1 California case (in which the question of whether the use of mandatory student fees for abortion services interfered with students' free exercise of religion was considered and rejected) are reviewed with an eye to whether the Court may strike down the university practice of demanding universal payment of seemingly neutral student fees. Ruling precedent suggests that universities will be allowed to maintain discretion and authority to impose mandatory student fees. Such fees are levied universally upon students to be spent by the institution in the best interests of the student body. All students are affected equally with the institution neither coercing religious belief nor unreasonably interfering with students' ability to practice religion. PMID:12343977

Variations in the availability of abortion providers may impact the demand for abortions since greater provider availability reduces the travel cost associated with acquiring an abortion. This paper applies a fertility-control model to estimate the responsiveness of abortion demand to travel-cost variations using county-level data on the state of Texas. Abortion rates as well as pregnancy rates appear to be

The autonomy granted to physicians is based on the claim that their decisions are grounded in scientific principles. But a case study of the evolution of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' abortion policy between 1951 and 1973 shows that decisions were only secondarily determined by science. The principal determinant was the need to preserve physician autonomy over the organization and delivery of services. As a result, the organization representing physicians who specialized in women's reproductive health was marginal to the struggle for legalizedabortion. But, the profession was central to decisions about whether physicians would perform abortions and how they would be done. This case study finding has implications for understanding the role that organized medicine might take in the ongoing debates about national health policy. PMID:14600047

... Clinical Trials NCI Publications Español Abortion, Miscarriage, and Breast Cancer Risk Introduction A woman’s hormone levels normally change ... that may influence a woman’s chances of developing breast cancer later in life. As a result, over several ...

This commentary describes the various manifestations of the stigmatization and marginalized status of abortion providers in relation to mainstream medicine. The article also addresses some of the current efforts to respond to this stigmatization. PMID:25061870

Throughout the 1960s, the public abortion debate was dominated by men. While women's voices were not absent, they are harder to locate. This article highlights one forum in which women eloquently expressed their feelings about abortion. In submissions to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada, women demonstrated their "right" to speak on the issue in many ways, including by sharing their experiences as mothers or with unplanned and unwanted pregnancies; referencing their professional lives, especially in care giving fields; and drawing moral authority from or opposing religious beliefs. This article analyzes women's efforts to convey their authority to speak to the legality of abortion, highlighting a component of the 1960s abortion law reform discussion often overlooked. PMID:22849255

Abortion rates are increasing all around the world, especially for young women. Our proposals for public policies to reduce\\u000a unwanted pregnancies are based on an analysis of the socio-economic determinants of abortion rates. Special attention is paid\\u000a to regional levels of alcohol consumption, living conditions, and public spending on health and education. We carry out estimations\\u000a using data on regions

This viewgraph presentation is an overview of the Launch Abort System (LAS) for the Constellation Program. The purpose of the paper is to review the planned tests for the LAS. The program will evaluate the performance of the crew escape functions of the Launch Abort System (LAS) specifically: the ability of the LAS to separate from the crew module, to gather flight test data for future design and implementation and to reduce system development risks.

Objective: This study examines the association between dietary habits and risk of spontaneous abortion. Design: Hospital-based case-control study. Setting: Obstetric hospitals in Milan, Italy. Subjects: Cases were: 912 women admitted for spontaneous abortion (within the 12th week of gestation). Controls were: women who gave birth at term to healthy infants on randomly selected days at the same hospitals where cases

Summary Fifty mothers (study group) who suffered a threatened abortion whose pregnancy continued at least till 28 weeks gestation\\u000a were compared to the next matched delivered mother (control group). Study mothers were at risk of perinatal death from abruptio\\u000a placentae, post-partum haemorrhage, retained placentas and a small baby. Those study mothers with severe symptoms delivered\\u000a earlier.\\u000a \\u000a Abortion is the commonest cause

Because of their similar timing in pregnancy, spontaneous and induced abortions can be viewed as competing outcomes. Some\\u000a intended abortion operations are anticipated by earlier miscarriages while some potential miscarriages are forestalled by\\u000a earlier deliberate interruptions of pregnancy. Previous treatments of this competition are reviewed, and a new analysis is\\u000a made on the basis of New York data. A simple

According to international news sources, Cambodia's parliament approved a law limiting the circumstances under which abortions can be performed on October 6 [1997]. Members of parliament say the new law, the first ever passed regulating abortion in Cambodia, is intended to reduce maternal morality rates from abortions performed by unlicensed health practitioners under unsanitary conditions. Local news outlets report that the Cambodian Health Ministry estimates the maternal mortality at 4.7 deaths per 1000 live births. The rate in the US is 0.12 deaths per 1000 live births. The law requires that abortions be performed by licensed health professionals in hospitals and certified clinics within the first trimester of pregnancy, and that women under the age of 18 must obtain parental consent. The new law also sets harsh penalties for those who harm women during illegal procedures--up to 5 years in prison if a woman is injured and up to 10 years if she dies. Opponents of the law say they fear that the new restrictions will push abortion even further underground, as the hospital system cannot handle the current demand for abortion. PMID:12292784

It is common to think of scientific research and the knowledge it generates as neutral and value free. Indeed, the scientific method is designed to produce "objective" data. However, there are always values built into science, as historians of science and technology have shown over and over. The relevant question is not how to rid science of values but, instead, to ask which values and whose values belong? Currently, antiabortion values consistently determine US research policy. Abortion research is declared illegitimate in covert and overt ways, at the level of individual researchers and research policy broadly. Most importantly, federal policy impedes conduct of both basic and clinical research in abortion. However, it is not just research in abortion that is deemed "illegitimate;" research in infertility and in vitro fertilization is as well. Federal funding of any reproductive health research agenda that would pose more than minimal risk to a fetus or embryo is banned. This leaves unanswered scientific questions about abortion, infertility, miscarriage and contraception among other areas. Since moral ground is occupied not just by abortion opponents but also by people who support abortion rights, there is at the very least a competing moral claim to consider changing federal research funding policy. Women and families deserve access to knowledge across the spectrum of reproductive health issues, whether they seek to end or start a pregnancy. Thus, research funding is an issue of reproductive justice. PMID:23815965

The legal competency or capability to exercise rights is level of judgment and decision-making ability needed to manage one's own affairs and to sign official documents. With some exceptions, the person entitles this right in age of majority. It is acquired without legal procedures, however the annulment of legal capacity requires a juristic process. This resolution may not be final and could be revoked thorough the procedure of reverting legal capacity - fully or partially. Given the increasing number of persons with dementia, they are often subjects of legal expertise concerning their legal capacity. On the other part, emphasis on the civil rights of mentally ill also demands their maximal protection. Therefore such distinctive issue is approached with particular attention. The approach in determination of legal competency is more focused on gradation of it's particular aspects instead of existing dual concept: legally capable - legally incapable. The main assumption represents how person with dementia is legally capable and should enjoy all the rights, privileges and obligations as other citizens do. The aspects of legal competency for which person with dementia is going to be deprived, due to protection of one's rights and interests, are determined in legal procedure and then passed over to the guardian decided by court. Partial annulment of legal competency is measure applied when there is even one existing aspect of preserved legal capability (pension disposition, salary or pension disposition, ability of concluding contract, making testament, concluding marriage, divorce, choosing whereabouts, independent living, right to vote, right to decide course of treatment ect.). This measure is most often in favour of the patient and rarely for protection of other persons and their interests. Physicians are expected to precisely describe early dementia symptoms which may influence assessment of specific aspects involved in legal capacity (memory loss, impaired task execution, language difficulties, loosing perception of time and space, changes in mood and behaviour, personality alterations, loss of interests and initiative). Towards more accurate determination of legal competency the psychometric tests are being used. The appliance of these tests must be guided with basic question during evaluation: "For what is or is not he/she capable?" In prediction of possible dementia development, the modern diagnostic procedures are used as help for potentially demented individuals in order to plan own affairs and by oneself determine future guardian. This ensures the maximal respect and protection of rights among persons with dementia in order to independently manage life one step ahead of progressive illness. Finally, it is to be distinguished medical concept of legal capacity which is universal and judicial concept which is restricted by rules of national legal system differing from country to country. PMID:21755719

This article discusses a clinical trial with the abortifacient agent ethacridine lactate as it was used for midtrimester abortion in Calcutta during the period January-July 1980. Results are then compared with intraamniotic hypertonic saline. 130 subjects were divided into 2 groups--Group 1 (60 women) were terminated with ethacridine lactate and group 2 (70 women) were terminated with saline. In cases where the patient complained of pain, analgesia was administered. In both groups, the largest concentration of women fell in the age groups 16-20 and 21-25. Similarly, single women were the largest representation in both groups although the saline group included more widows. Ethacridine lactate can be administered earlier in the 2nd trimester than saline. With it, expulsion occurred within 36 hours in 56.6% of the cases as compared with 22.9% in group 2. Both groups required the same amount of assistance with oxytocin. In group 1, there were only 3 cases (5%) of minor complications whereas in group 2, 19 cases (27.1%) developed complications. This alone strongly recommends ethacridine lactate as the preferred abortifacient. The success rate was 98%. Thus, ethacridine lactate appears to be a safe and effective agent for pregnancy termination during the 2nd trimester. PMID:7142727

9 out of 15 known free standing abortion clinics in the Washington, D.c. metro area were surveyed by a multidisciplinary team to determine whether prescribed health and safety standards for health care facilities are being adhered to. The minimum space requirements of 80 sq ft for medical examination and/or treatment rooms were not met by 4 clinics and inadequate lighting was found in 2 clinics. Although all facilities exhibited evidence of an effective housekeeping program, 8 clinics did not have effective preventive maintenance program for mechanical equipment and medical devices. 1 clinic had inadequate ventilation system and 6 had inadequate handwashing facilities. All had effective solid waste management systems. 6 clinics regularly conduct microbiological monitoring programs (eg, swabbing walls, doorknobs and heating units; sterilization of surgical instruments) but 3 lacked vigilant supervision of sterilizing equipment and procedures. 2 clinics did not have properly grounded or insulated electrical equipment for minimizing electrical shock. Insect and rodent control in all clinics was good. Overall, the housekeeping programs were considered to be constant, thorough, well-conceived and well executed. Implications of the findings were discussed. PMID:10305534

Seven prospective cohort studies (12484 cases) were included in this review of the respective effects on the next pregnancy of medical and surgical abortion in early pregnancy. The incidence of miscarriage and postpartum hemorrhage was significantly lower in the pregnancy following a medical abortion. No other significant differences were found. With respect to the outcome of the next pregnancy, first-trimester

In 1981, The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI), in collaboration with the National Abortion Federation (NAF), conducted a survey of 240 abortion clinics to update information about clinic structure and the relationship of structural characteristics to services, policies and fees. The clinics surveyed were a stratified random sample of all non-hospital abortion facilities that provided 400 or more abortions in the United States in 1980. Among the findings are the following: Thirty-one percent of the clinics reported that they are nonprofit or tax-exempt corporations. The nonprofit clinics are not significantly different from for-profit clinics in either the number of patients they serve or the region of the country in which they are located. Twenty percent of facilities, although regarded as clinics by the AGI for research purposes, define themselves as physicians' offices. These offices are more often located in the West and have smaller caseloads than other clinics. They are also disproportionately located in states with high abortion rates, which suggests that private physicians in these states are more willing than doctors in other states to provide relatively large numbers of abortions in their offices. Two-thirds of the clinics are licensed, most of them by states, but some by cities and counties. Licensed clinics have larger caseloads than nonlicensed facilities, but they are no different in terms of the other characteristics measured in the study, including services offered and fee structure. Fifty-four percent of clinics provide abortions after 12 weeks since the last menstrual period (LMP), and 24 percent, past 14 weeks.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) PMID:6926970

The potential reproductive toxicity of mercury vapour was investigated by comparing the rate of spontaneous abortions among the wives of 152 workers occupationally exposed to mercury vapour with the rate among the wives of 374 controls in the same plant. The results indicate an increase in the rate of spontaneous abortions with an increasing concentration of mercury in the fathers' urine before pregnancy. At concentrations above 50 micrograms/l the risk of spontaneous abortion doubles (odds ratio (OR) = 2.26; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 0.99-5.23). Special care was taken to avoid bias in reporting abortions and known risk factors of spontaneous abortions do not seem to explain the results. Several biological mechanisms might account for them including, in particular, direct action of mercury on the paternal reproductive system and indirect toxicity to the mother or embryo through transport of mercury from the father. These indications could be of practical importance and should therefore be further documented. PMID:2064975

Clinical language applied to early pregnancy loss changed in late twentieth century Britain when doctors consciously began using the term ‘miscarriage’ instead of ‘abortion’ to refer to this subject. Medical professionals at the time and since have claimed this change as an intuitive empathic response to women's experiences. However, a reading of medical journals and textbooks from the era reveals how the change in clinical language reflected legal, technological, professional and social developments. The shift in language is better understood in the context of these historical developments, rather than as the consequence of more empathic medical care for women who experience miscarriage. PMID:23429567

Detailed reviews of two legal information databases--"Laborlaw I" and "Legal Resource Index"--are presented in this paper. Each database review begins with a bibliographic entry listing the title; producer; vendor; cost per hour contact time; offline print cost per citation; time period covered; frequency of updates; and size of file. A detailed…

Like most issues in higher education, the accreditation paradigm in the United States is defined in large measure by the legal and political climate in which the academy finds itself. In the case of accreditation in particular, the legal substrate is of particular importance given the central role of accreditation in a college's ability to receive…

This book is in the form of a bibliographic essay, and addresses the needs of educators seeking access to legal research materials. The first item discussed is court decisions and examples are given which demonstrate the importance of legal precedent. An explanation is given of the complicated systems for reporting court decisions and how the…

This publication was developed by the Cincinnati (Ohio) Public Schools for use as a resource in adult basic education classes. It presents, in simple format, the basic legal rights of citizens of the United States and points out legal problem areas that average adults may encounter in daily life. The book is organized into nine parts containing 2…

The history of the past 16 years has borne out pro-life predictions that abortion would be the precursor of an even wider assault on helpless people. The unborn initially were the victim of choice because they were, in 1973, outside our customary line of moral vision. But as a dress rehearsal for a pattern of discretionary killing what was most significant about abortion was its explicit rejection of the Declaration of Independence's principle holding that our right to life is "inalienable." Abortion taught us that the lives of some are alienable and raised the question, why not the lives of others? Contrary to stereotype, the pro-life movement is a classic reform movement, inbued with a fierce belief in the inherent worth and equality of mankind. PMID:10294688

There is a fundamental inconsistency in Western society's treatment of non-human animals on the one hand, and of human foetuses on the other. While most Western countries allow the butchering of animals and their use in experimentation, this must occur under carefully controlled conditions that are intended to minimize their pain and suffering as much as possible. At the same time, most Western countries permit various abortion methods without similar concerns for the developing fetus. The only criteria for deciding which abortion method is used centre in the stage of the pregnancy, the size of the fetus, the health of the pregnant woman and the physician's preference. This is out of step with the underlying ethos of animal cruelty legislation, cannot be justified ethically and should be rectified by adjusting abortion methods to the capacity of the fetus to experience nociception and/or pain. PMID:23076345

...abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother. (2) Rape or incest. FFP is available in expenditures for abortion services performed to terminate a pregnancy resulting from an act of rape or incest. (c) Partial Federal funding...

Presents two studies of the relationship between student nurses' attitudes and patient perception with regard to abortion. Results indicate that the student nurses' judgments were related to their prevailing attitude toward abortion and to their religiosity. (Author/MA)

Unsafe abortion has a global incidence of about 20 million cases annually, out of which 97% cases are reported from developing nations. There are many reports showing the occurrence of bowel or uterine perforation in such instances, but most of them have concentrated upon surgical or obstetric complications. We report a case of unsafe abortion with ruptured uterus, intra-abdominal foetus, and bowel infarction that developed intraoperative cardiac arrest during the emergency laparotomy. This case highlights anaesthetic challenges in managing such critically ill-patients.

The views of morality enunciated by the Protestant and Catholic churches in the process of France's abortion law revision are examined through an analysis of the testimony of each church and its moral theologians during hearings held from July-November 1973 by the Commission of Cultural, Family, and Social Affairs of the National Assembly concerning the proposed abortion legislation. The offical Catholic Church position, which restated a neoscholastic philosophy with its theory of human nature, natural law, natural right, and natural morality, was opposed by 2 priests who participated as members of other organizations. The moral principles behind the official Catholic position included the sacred and absolute principle of respect for life, the beginning of human life at conception, and the responsibility to protect the fetus as a human being. Internal Catholic challenges to the official position appeared to rest principally on the question of when life begins but also touched on the inappropriateness of viewing unwanted pregnancy as a punishment for sexual activity, the constant recourse to authority of the church, and the reluctance to reexamine questions on new evidence. Faced with the likely replacement of abortion law consistent with Catholic morality by 1 seriously at variance, the French Church and state while justifying their organized opposition to any change. The right of the church to impose its views on the legislature and on society, the view of the cultural context of abortion as a degradation of public attitudes expressed in rejection of children, the necessary connections between sexuality and fertility, the necessity for women to be able to control their fertility if they were to participate fully in society, the debased conditions in which thousands of illegal abortions occurred or the exaggeration of such conditions were other issues. Proposed legislation on abortion was opposed by the official Catholic position, which instead called for a vaguely defined social and family policy. Issues raised in the testimony of representatives of Protestant groups included the idea that each person is responsible for interpreting the will of God in complex situations, limits to the idea that life is a blessing of God, the right of women and couples to control their fertility, and abortion as a last resort. The Protestant position in favor of liberalization of the law held that existing repressive laws were untenable given the perils of illegal abortions and the fundamental modifications in relations between man and nature brought about by science. The Protestant church, a minority in France, took a more active role than the Catholic in suggesting specific legislation. PMID:12339249

Abortion in single girls in an increasing problem in Hong Kong. This paper is an attempt to look at the psychosocial factors in sexual behavior in a selected sample of girls. Of 100 girls requesting an abortion, 70% were educated to Form III level (grade 10 U.S. equivalent) and these did not come from broken or disturbed homes. The adequacy of their prepregnancy use of contraception was significantly and positively related to their level of formal education. These girls were all made pregnant by their boy-friends. Some aspects of their sexual behavior are described. PMID:7096165

A population-based cohort study investigated postnatal depression in Brazilian women who attempted an abortion. Participants' views and actions on abortion were assessed during pregnancy and postnatal depression was evaluated with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. An unsuccessful abortion attempt was associated with postnatal depression (adjusted OR = 1.6, 95% CI 1.0-2.5). In Brazil abortion is illegal under most circumstances. PMID:21357883

Abortion, particularly late-term abortion, and neonaticide, selective non-treatment of newborns, are feasible management strategies for fetuses or newborns diagnosed with severe abnormalities. However, policy varies considerably among developed nations. This article examines abortion and neonatal policy in four nations: Israel, the US, the UK and Denmark. In Israel, late-term abortion is permitted while non-treatment of newborns is prohibited. In the

The aim was to identify from empirical research that used quantitative or qualitative methods the reasons women give for having\\u000a an abortion. A search was conducted of peer-reviewed, English language publications indexed in eight computerized databases\\u000a with publication date 1996–2008, using keywords ‘abortion’ and ‘reason’ (Medline: ‘induced abortion’ OR ‘termination of pregnancy’\\u000a OR ‘elective abortion’ and ‘reason’). Inclusion criteria were

In Gonzales v. Carhart, the Supreme Court upheld a federal ban on a type of second-trimester abortion that many physicians believe is safer for their patients. Carhart presented a watershed moment in abortion law, because it marks the Supreme Court’s first use of the anti-abortion movement’s “woman-protective” rationale to uphold a ban on abortion and the first time since Roe

The medical profession classifi es abortion as induced or spontaneous. The lay public, however, tends to equate the term abortion\\u000a with one that is induced, whether therapeutically, self, or criminal, and to associate the term miscarriage with spontaneous\\u000a abortion (Beard et al. 1985).\\u000a \\u000a Spontaneous abortion is usually defi ned as the involuntary loss of a conceptus before the fetus has

The Zambian Association of Gynecology and Obstetrics is one of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) member societies participating in the FIGO Initiative for the Prevention of Unsafe Abortion and its Consequences from the East, Central, and Southern Africa region. The activities included in this country's plan of action were to provide access to safe abortion within the full extent of the law to women receiving care at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, and to increase the proportion of women leaving the hospital with a contraceptive method. Zambian law regarding abortion is liberal, but in general it was not applied until very recently. The proportion of legal terminations of pregnancy among patients receiving abortion care at the hospital increased from 3.2% in 2009 to 7.7% in 2011, while the percentage of women leaving the hospital with a contraceptive method increased from 25.3% to 69.4% over the same period. PMID:24786142

Sex Selective Abortions, Fertility and Birth Spacing Claus C PÂ¨ortner Department of Economics under the title "The Determinants of Sex Selective Abortions." #12;Abstract Previous research on sex selective abortions has ignored the interactions between fertility, birth spacing and sex selection

Previous research has shown that public opinion on abortion is not a simply a dichotomy of pro-life and pro-choice. Instead, there appears to be three general attitudes: absolutist (opposing abortion in all cases, including rape), situationalist (opposing abortion for all cases except \\

Schedulability Analysis of CAN with Non-abortable Transmission Requests Dawood A. Khan INRIA / INPL, in reality, CAN controllers may have some characteristics, such as non- abortable transmit buffers, which may break this assumption. This paper provides analysis for networks that contain nodes with non-abortable

Powered Safe Abort for Autonomous Rendezvous of Spacecraft Louis Breger and Jonathan P. How MIT-optimized rendezvous trajectories. These trajectories guarantee the existence of known powered abort trajectories the existence of known active safe abort trajectories for a large class of possible spacecraft anomalies

Abortions in Cattle, a Review Max Irsik DVM, MAB Beef Cattle Extension Veterinarian University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine Abortion is the premature expulsion of the fetus from the dam have died in-utero due to disease and was expelled. Depending upon the cause of "abortion" a cow may

Review article Lelystad virus and the porcine epidemic abortion and respiratory syndrome G abortion and respiratory syndrome and porcine reproduc- tive and respiratory syndrome. The virus is a small pigs. Clinical signs of an infection with Le- lystad virus are characterized by late term abortions

Resets vs. Aborts in Linear Temporal Logic Roy Armoni1 , Doron Bustan2 , Orna Kupferman3 of Pnueli's LTL. Both ForSpec and Sugar 2.0 directly support reset/abort signals, in which a check for a property may be terminated and declared successful by a reset/abort sig- nal, provided the check has

Locating the issue of abortion in a global public policy context, with the array of public health, human rights, and social questions that are implicated, is the aim of this paper. Abortion laws around the world have been liberalized since the 1950s, with a resultant decrease in abortion-related mortality among women. The proportion of the world's…

Short-term quality of life following abortion is poorly characterized. We conducted a prospective cohort study to evaluate 97 U.S. women who selected either medical abortion with mifepristone and misoprostol or surgical abortion up to 9 weeks gestation in a private-practice setting. Women choosing medical abortion and those choosing surgical abortion with local anesthesia were similar on most baseline characteristics. Eighty-five participants completed a standardized quality of life assessments three times over 1 month. The 30-item questionnaire yielded scores for global health, emotional, social, cognitive and physical functioning and for specific symptom scales. At baseline, participants reported many symptoms and functional limitations during the previous week. Subjects in both treatment groups experienced clinically and statistically significant improvements on all scales at follow-up. Surgical abortion patients had worse scores on three of five function scales and several symptom scales at baseline compared to medical abortion patients. Differences in baseline scores between the medical and surgical abortion patients disappeared during follow-up. A surprising finding was that partner knowledge of the pregnancy at the time the abortion appointment was made was associated with significantly worse scores on most of the function and symptom scales. These results provide substantial reassurance that women undergoing abortion experience a marked improvement in their quality of life after the abortion. Women choosing medical or surgical abortion report very similar quality of life improvements. PMID:12521657

Chile is one of the last countries in the world where abortion is absolutely illegal. This paper reports on a study of 80 women who were prosecuted in Santiago for having had an abortion, mostly young women, eight of whom became pregnant following rape; 40 women who were prosecuted for performing abortions, almost all older women; and 12 mainly friends

The recent Supreme Court decision upholding Roe v. Wade and in particular, the dissent by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, sheds new light on the issue of abortion. Let us consider any stage of a pregnancy when abortion is medically safe for the mother. If at that stage it is also medically viable to save the fetus, is an abortion performed

On 25 July 2001 the Polish Federation for Women and Family Planning organised a Tribunal on Abortion Rights in Warsaw, to publicise the negative consequences of the criminalisation of abortion in Poland. A panel of Polish and foreign experts heard the testimonials of seven Polish women's experiences under the 1993 “Anti-Abortion Act”. Only two of the seven women were able

...2014-10-01 false Limitations on coverage: Abortions. 457.475 Section 457.475 Public...457.475 Limitations on coverage: Abortions. (a) General rule. FFP under...is not available in expenditures for an abortion, or in expenditures for the...

Objective: To determine the pregnancy outcome following a previous spontaneous abortion (miscarriage). Method: A prospective cohort study was done on 300 gravida-2 patients: 200 patients (case group) whose previous pregnancy was spontaneously aborted (early abortion), and 100 patients (control group) whose previous pregnancy went to term and a live fetus was delivered. All the patients were followed until delivery, and

After its formation in 1910 as a self-governing dominion within the British empire, the Union of South Africa followed a combination of English and Roman-Dutch common laws on abortion that decreed the procedure permissible only when necessary to save a woman’s life. The government continued doing so after South Africa withdrew from the Commonwealth and became a republic in 1961. In 1972 a sensational trial took place in the South African Supreme Court that for weeks placed clandestine abortion on the front pages of the country’s newspapers. Two men, one an eminent doctor and the other a self-taught abortionist, were charged with conspiring to perform illegal abortions on twenty-six white teenagers and young unmarried women. The prosecution of Dr Derk Crichton and James Watts occurred while the National Party government was in the process of drafting abortion legislation and was perceived by legal experts as another test of the judiciary’s stance on the common law on abortion. The trial was mainly intended to regulate the medical profession and ensure doctors ceased helping young white women evade their ‘duty’ to procreate within marriage. Ultimately, the event encapsulated a great deal about elites’ attempt to buttress apartheid culture and is significant for, among other reasons, contributing to the production of South Africa’s extremely restrictive Abortion and Sterilisation Act (1975). PMID:24775430

After its formation in 1910 as a self-governing dominion within the British empire, the Union of South Africa followed a combination of English and Roman-Dutch common laws on abortion that decreed the procedure permissible only when necessary to save a woman's life. The government continued doing so after South Africa withdrew from the Commonwealth and became a republic in 1961. In 1972 a sensational trial took place in the South African Supreme Court that for weeks placed clandestine abortion on the front pages of the country's newspapers. Two men, one an eminent doctor and the other a self-taught abortionist, were charged with conspiring to perform illegal abortions on twenty-six white teenagers and young unmarried women. The prosecution of Dr Derk Crichton and James Watts occurred while the National Party government was in the process of drafting abortion legislation and was perceived by legal experts as another test of the judiciary's stance on the common law on abortion. The trial was mainly intended to regulate the medical profession and ensure doctors ceased helping young white women evade their 'duty' to procreate within marriage. Ultimately, the event encapsulated a great deal about elites' attempt to buttress apartheid culture and is significant for, among other reasons, contributing to the production of South Africa's extremely restrictive Abortion and Sterilisation Act (1975). PMID:24775430

The protozoa Neospora caninum is an important cause of bovine abortion world-wide. The objective of this survey was to determine the distribution pattern of infectious abortion in Southern Brazil with special reference to N. caninum infection. A total of 161 bovine aborted fetuses from 149 farms were analysed during a 1.5 year period. The cause of abortion was identified in 51.5% of cases. Overall, 23% (37/161) of the fetuses were considered to be infected with N. caninum. Bacterial infection accounted for 17.4% (28/161) of cases, fungal infection for 3.1% (5/161) of cases and viral aetiology for 1.8% (3/161). Six fetuses had concurrent infection with N. caninum and Leptospira spp. Data from 111 fetuses and the respective aborted cows were analysed to investigate the association between previous abortion and current N. caninum infection. The prevalence of N. caninum-infected fetuses from cows with and without a history of previous abortion was 44% (11/25) and 24.4% (21/86), respectively. Cows aborting a N. caninum-infected fetuses were 2.4 times more likely to have aborted previously than cows aborting for other reasons (95% CI of odds ratio=0.9-6.8, P=0.06). PMID:16772136

Background Rural induced abortion service has declined in Canada. Factors influencing abortion provision by rural physicians are unknown. This study assessed distribution, practice, and experiences among rural compared to urban abortion providers in the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC). Methods We used mixed methods to assess physicians on the BC registry of abortion providers. In 2011 we distributed a previously-published questionnaire and conducted semi-structured interviews. Results Surveys were returned by 39/46 (85%) of BC abortion providers. Half were family physicians, within both rural and urban cohorts. One-quarter (17/67) of rural hospitals offer abortion service. Medical abortions comprised 14.7% of total reported abortions. The three largest urban areas reported 90% of all abortions, although only 57% of reproductive age women reside in the associated health authority regions. Each rural physician provided on average 76 (SD 52) abortions annually, including 35 (SD 30) medical abortions. Rural physicians provided surgical abortions in operating rooms, often using general anaesthesia, while urban physicians provided the same services primarily in ambulatory settings using local anaesthesia. Rural providers reported health system barriers, particularly relating to operating room logistics. Urban providers reported occasional anonymous harassment and violence. Conclusions Medical abortions represented 15% of all BC abortions, a larger proportion than previously reported (under 4%) for Canada. Rural physicians describe addressable barriers to service provision that may explain the declining accessibility of rural abortion services. Moving rural surgical abortions out of operating rooms and into local ambulatory care settings has the potential to improve care and costs, while reducing logistical challenges facing rural physicians. PMID:23840578

IntroductionTo increase access to safe abortion in rural India, the feasibility and acceptability of mifepristone–misoprostol abortion was assessed in a typical government run primary health center (PHC) in Nagpur district, Maharashtra State, that does not offer surgical abortion services and must refer off-site for emergency and backup services.

For human spaceflight missions, a launch vehicle failure poses the challenge of returning the crew safely to earth through environments that are often much more stressful than the nominal mission. Manned spaceflight vehicles require continuous abort capability throughout the ascent trajectory to protect the crew in the event of a failure of the launch vehicle. To provide continuous abort coverage during the ascent trajectory, different types of Orion abort modes have been developed. If a launch vehicle failure occurs, the crew must be able to quickly and accurately determine the appropriate abort mode to execute. Early in the ascent, while the Launch Abort System (LAS) is attached, abort mode selection is trivial, and any failures will result in a LAS abort. For failures after LAS jettison, the Service Module (SM) effectors are employed to perform abort maneuvers. Several different SM abort mode options are available depending on the current vehicle location and energy state. During this region of flight the selection of the abort mode that maximizes the survivability of the crew becomes non-trivial. To provide the most accurate and timely information to the crew and the onboard abort decision logic, on-board algorithms have been developed to propagate the abort trajectories based on the current launch vehicle performance and to predict the current abort capability of the Orion vehicle. This paper will provide an overview of the algorithm architecture for determining abort achievability as well as the scalar integration scheme that makes the onboard computation possible. Extension of the algorithm to assessing abort coverage impacts from Orion design modifications and launch vehicle trajectory modifications is also presented.

In his classic paper, 'Why abortion is immoral', Don Marquis argues that what makes killing an adult seriously immoral is that it deprives the victim of the valuable future he/she would have otherwise had. Moreover, Marquis contends, because abortion deprives a fetus of the very same thing, aborting a fetus is just as seriously wrong as killing an adult. Marquis' argument has received a great deal of critical attention in the two decades since its publication. Nonetheless, there is a potential challenge to it that seems to have gone unnoticed. A significant percentage of fetuses are lost to spontaneous abortion. Once we bring this fact to our attention, it becomes less clear whether Marquis can use his account of the wrongness of killing to show that abortion is the moral equivalent of murder. In this paper, I explore the relevance of the rate of spontaneous abortion to Marquis' classic anti-abortion argument. I introduce a case I call Unexpected Death in which someone is about to commit murder, but, just as the would-be murderer is about to strike, his would-be victim dies unexpectedly. I then ask: what does Marquis' account of killing imply about the moral status of what the would-be murderer was about to do? I consider four responses Marquis could give to this question, and I examine what implications these responses have for Marquis' strategy of using his account of the wrongness of killing an adult to show that abortion is in the same moral category. PMID:23038800

Surveys conducted in Mexico by GIRE in 1992, 1994, and 1995 reveal that over 80% of the national population believes only a woman or a woman and her partner should make abortion decisions. Neither the government, the Church, nor physicians should intervene. Public opinion and the documented social and public health consequences of illegal abortion demonstrate the obsolescence of laws penalizing abortion. Mexico does not have a direct means of converting the opinions of the population into votes and laws. In place of referendums, committees of specialists have been convened; they are limited in number and ability to represent diverse groups, and oriented above all to the losses and gains of political and parliamentary disputes. The electoral reform of 1995-96 was a good example of the question under debate getting lost in partisan maneuvering. The Federal District and four states have initiated development of the referendum process, but the procedures have been too cumbersome and the results disappointing. In the current day, opinions are often formed not by following a rational process, but by bombardment with advertising appealing to irrational emotions. The democratic effects of referendum should be furthered by guaranteeing fair and exhaustive exposure of all points of view before the vote is held. GIRE recommends that a referendum on decriminalization of abortion should be preceded by a period of at least two years for public debate and reflection, and that the Federal Electoral Institute should organize the debate and the referendum. PMID:12349540

In her paper, Professor Kimberly J. Cook uses statistics to illustrate the role the Christian Right plays in the public discourse over two issues permeated with religious overtones: abortion and the death penalty. She shows how the Christian Right's approach to these issues is based on an ideological notion of 'Justice \\

Successful sessions often require the counselor to engage in interdisciplinary exchange (1) to gain critical information and (2) to explore models and new ways of lookingat issues. This article offers one example of the interdisciplinary venture on the abortion issue. Far-reaching decisions are sometimes made in an inescapable climate of ambiguity. Often pastoral counseling proves most useful when counselor and

The struggle within Roman Catholicism over contraception, and the struggle which is likely to arise over abortion, reflect a mixture of theological and social change. The challenge to papal authority inherent in the dissent from Pope Paul's encyclical on birth control is bound to have pro found ramifications in the church. At the same time, however, the fact of Catholic

Data from a cytogenetic survey of spontaneous abortions were examined to determine the incidence and origin of mosaic trisomies in this population. The overall frequency of mosaicism among trisomies was approximately 5%, but the level of mosaicism varied significantly among trisomies, being much higher for the nonacrocentric than for the acrocentric trisomies. Evidence from chromosome heteromorphism analysis suggests that the

This commentary explores what a world without abortion stigma might look like at the individual, community and institutional level. The article further articulates the need for interdisciplinary collaboration for developing a vision, research agenda, and intervention strategy for change. PMID:25061760

The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological and emotional effects of abortion on women who terminated their pregnancies for social, economic, or personal reasons. These effects were determined, in part, by an analysis of the woman's concept of self, the external support given, and the various coping mechanisms utilized in the…

A structured literature review was undertaken to determine, in the context of early medical abortion, the proportion of women who require analgesia, the predictors of analgesia requirement and the most appropriate analgesia regimen. Studies from different centers show wide variations in analgesia use, but, overall, around 75% of women use narcotic analgesics on the day of prostaglandin administration. Differences are

A paid advertisement, appearing in "The New York Times" on October 4, 1984 under the sponsorship of a group called Catholics for a Free Choice, contended that there is more than 1 legitimate, i.e., theologically and ethically defensible, viewpoint on abortion within the Roman Catholic tradition. The advertisement called for a dialogue on abortion among Catholics; a dialogue that would acknowledge this situation of pluralism, not only in regard to practice (Catholics have about the same proportion of abortions as Protestants in the US) but in regard to the ethical state of the question. The ad explicitly asked for the cessation of institutional sanctions against those with dissenting positions on abortion. In the months following the ad's appearance, its admonition that dissenters should not be penalized has not been heeded. The chief initiative in this repression has come from the Vatican. In early December 1984 there arrived in the mailboxes of the religious superiors or bishops of the 4 priests and brothers and most of the 24 nuns who signed the statement a letter from the head of the Vatican's Sacred Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes. This letter, dated November 30, 1984, stated that the position taken in "The New York Times" advertisement was "in contradiction to the teachings of the Church" and that the ad's signers were "seriously lacking in religious submission to the mind of the Magisterium." Any signer who declined to make a public retraction was to be warned by the superior with an explicit threat of dismissal from his/her religious community. The 2 priests and the 2 brothers made "pro forma" statements of retraction. None of the nuns who signed was willing to do so. When the nun-signers, through their religious superiors, indicated that they would not retract the statement nor would the superiors threaten them with dismissal, the Sacred Congregation appeared to back off. To date, none of the nuns has fully complied with the request to affirm the church's teaching authority on abortion, and none has been dismissed from her order. Yet, the Vatican clearly is not pleased with this insubordination. By January 1985 it was evident that reprisals against the lay signers were beginning also. Various incidents directed against the signers have led the signers and their supporters to redirect their attention from the question of pluralism on abortion to the right of dissent itself. A network calling itself the Committee of Concerned Catholics is gathering signatures for a new "New York Times" ad. The new ad will repeat the 1st ad's statement on pluralism in regard to abortion, adding to it a statement of solidarity with the original signers and a defense of the right to dissent. PMID:12178934

We explored the psychometric properties of 15 survey questions that assessed abortion providers' perceptions of stigma and its impact on providers' professional and personal lives referred to as the Abortion Provider Stigma Survey (APSS). We administered the survey to a sample of abortion providers recruited for the Providers' Share Workshop (N = 55). We then completed analyses using Stata SE/12.0. Exploratory factor analysis, which resulted in 13 retained items and identified three subscales: disclosure management, resistance and resilience, and discrimination. Stigma was salient in abortion provider's lives: they identified difficulties surrounding disclosure (66%) and felt unappreciated by society (89%). Simultaneously, workers felt they made a positive contribution to society (92%) and took pride in their work (98%). Paired t-test analyses of the pre- and post-Workshop APSS scores showed no changes in the total score. However, the Disclosure Management subscale scores were significantly lower (indicating decreased stigma) for two subgroups of participants: those over the age of 30 and those with children. This analysis is a promising first step in the development of a quantitative tool for capturing abortion providers' experiences of and responses to pervasive abortion stigma. PMID:25061823

The Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) is required to maintain continuous abort capability from lift off through destination arrival. This requirement is driven by the desire to provide the capability to safely return the crew to Earth after failure scenarios during the various phases of the mission. This paper addresses abort trajectory design considerations, concept of operations and guidance algorithm prototypes for the portion of the ascent trajectory following nominal jettison of the Launch Abort System (LAS) until safe orbit insertion. Factors such as abort system performance, crew load limits, natural environments, crew recovery, and vehicle element disposal were investigated to determine how to achieve continuous vehicle abort capability.

Legal scholars and those with an interest in the law will definitely want to take a look at the Global Legal Information Network (GLIN) website. Here visitors can search official full text legal documents, including judicial decisions, legislation, and laws. The database is provided courtesy of the Law Library of the United States Congress, and it draws from countries from around the world who wish to provide access to their own legal documents. Some of the countries who participate in the program include Brazil, Costa Rica, Kuwait, Peru, and Romania. Visitors will find that the ways to search the database are extremely helpful. Options include searching by jurisdiction, publication date, subject terms, and language. The site is rounded out by a section that provides answers to frequently asked questions about using the database.

Legal issues worldwide prompted by the AIDS epidemic are discussed, in a general way, since legal systems vary widely in different countries and localities. WHO publishes a tabulation of legal instruments dealing with AIDS and HIV infection. Criminal laws intended to protect people from harm from HIV infection have been enacted, such as a penalty for unprotected sexual intercourse by infected persons, in some Australian states. Knowing spread of HIV already amounts to a crime in many systems. The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that states do not violate the constitution for punishing homosexuals for consensual sodomy, nor the Army for discharging homosexuals. Quarantine law is a civil matter, but may provide penalties stricter than criminal penalties, without as much protection. No quarantines against AIDS have been enacted, although some countries require screening of immigrants. Legal issues regarding screening, liability of suppliers of blood products, and tracing of sexual partners are much discussed. Stigmatization of minority and alienated groups such as homosexuals, prostitutes, migrants, drug users and prisoners is a tricky legal problem. The apparent failure of the criminalization of drug users and how to contain the spread of AIDS into the drug free population may prompt drastic new solutions. Other legal issues drawing attention include regulation of health insurance, changes in family law, pre-marriage HIV tests, screening for HIV ostensibly to detect HIV-associated dementia, liability protection for developers and testers of vaccines, and euthanasia and the treatment of the deceased. The legal system tends to lag behind medicine. In the case of AIDS, it cannot afford to delay, therefore effective legal strategies will include effective media presentation of AIDS information to the general public; ready and cheap supply of condoms; and a new approach to illegal drugs. PMID:3147672

The purpose of this study was to explore the reasons women in rural, southern Gabon, Africa, chose to terminate their pregnancies, the methods used to induce abortions, and postabortion effects experienced by these women. Abortion is illegal in this country. A descriptive qualitative design guided the methodology for this study. Five women with a history of induced abortion were interviewed in-depth for their abortion story. Reasons cited for an abortion included lack of financial and partner support. Abortion methods included oral, rectal, and vaginal concoctions of leaves, bark, and water and over-the-counter medications, including misoprostol. Affects were physical, spiritual, and relational. Health care professionals need to provide women with guidance for appropriate contraceptive usage. Abortion after-care of women with physical and spiritual needs is important. Future research is suggested on the use of misoprostol in Gabon to understand its affects on women's reproductive health. PMID:17202528

In February 2004, privacy concerns captured the public's attention when the United States government, the defendant in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, sought to subpoena the medical records of patients receiving intact dilation and extraction (also known as "partial birth") abortions in six different hospitals and six Planned Parenthood centers across the country. Three different federal court cases explored the enforceability of the subpoenas. This Note explores the rationales used by the three courts in examining the privacy interests involved. It then suggests some possible solutions for systematically protecting medical information: a legal solution; a technological solution; and a combination of both. The legal solution involves creating a federal physician-patient privilege, similar to that enforced in many states and parallel to the federal psychotherapist-patient privilege. The technological solution requires the complicity of multiple jurisdictions to verify the necessity of revealing medical information. Taken together, these solutions can assist the government in protecting its citizens by imposing more checks on itself. PMID:15968942

A course syllabus for world legal history is presented to encourage more instruction in that field. It includes segments on modern and early primitive law, early civilized legal systems, medieval religious legal systems, acceptance and rejection of Roman law in Europe, and developments in the legal history of specific countries. (MSE)

Abortion counseling, including informed consent laws specifying what a woman must be told to obtain an abortion, have been the subject of a great deal of social policy. Using a qualitative sample of 49 women seeking abortions in 2008, we asked women whether they had their mind made up when they called the clinic to make their appointment as well as what they wanted from abortion counseling. The majority of women contacting the abortion clinic had already made up their minds to have an abortion and were therefore not seeking options counseling. Neither were they seeking to emotionally confide in their abortion counselors: They anticipated that the counselor would try to discourage them from having an abortion, they stated that they had met their emotional needs elsewhere, and they feared that confiding in the counselor might endanger their ability to obtain an abortion. They perceived other women needed counseling, though, to help them make a responsible decision. A cafeteria-style approach to counseling that allows women to specify what their needs are would better match abortion counseling with women's stated needs. These data have the potential to inform public policy to better suit abortion-related counseling with women's needs. PMID:21774585

This paper analyses the relationship of the lawyer and legal education to policies of population dynamics in Africa. Lawyers have been reluctant to enter effectively into population studies and consequently are peripheral in influencing the formulation and implementation of population policies in Africa. This "unfortunate" situation reflects the varying attitudes of the lawyer to some aspects of population dynamics. The concept of Human Rights is examined as offering a suitable avenue for increased participation of lawyers into the formulation of population policies. The paper examines the structure of laws affecting parameters of population dynamics in Kenya and the extent to which Kenya's legal structure, as in some other African countries, is pegged to the legal system of their colonial governments. This factor, reinforced by traditional practices and socioeconomic factors, frustrate lawyers' attitudes. These attitudes can be changed by making population law an integral part of legal educational curricula. Breakdowns are given of lawyer's attitudes to fertility and abortion under specified conditions and descriptions of various case studies in Kenya, Sweden, Prague, Czechoslovakia, and England involving abortion laws. Contraception laws in Africa and health codes are detailed in order to trace how people's attitudes tend to frustrate the law, especially concerning veneral diseases. Laws concerning drugs, and especially spatial distribution (urban and rural migration) are described to show how lawyers can become involved in population law. The author's recommended law curriculum is given which emphasizes introductory preparation in the sociological, economic, demographic, health and sex education dimensions of the subject of population law in addition to study of all statutory provisions, orders, regulations, by laws and judicial decisions that have any bearing on population matters. Categories to be studied should include fertility regulation, family law, children and child welfare, criminal offence and penology, public welfare, public health, education, property and economic factors. PMID:12264823

This paper considers how oral contraception's diffusion to young unmarried women affected the number and parental characteristics of children born to these women. In the short-term, pill access caused declines in fertility and increases in both the share of children born with low birthweight and the share born to poor households. In the long-term, access led to negligible changes in fertility while increasing the share of children with college-educated mothers and decreasing the share with divorced mothers. The short-term effects appear to be driven by upwardly-mobile women opting out of early childbearing while the long-term effects appear to be driven by a retiming of births to later ages. These effects differ from those of abortionlegalization, although we find suggestive evidence that pill diffusion lowered abortions. Our results suggest that abortion and the pill are on average used for different purposes by different women, but on the margin some women substitute from abortion towards the pill when both are available. JELNo. I0, J13, N12. PMID:22389533

SummaryMaternal mortality reduction has been a focus of major international initiatives for the past two decades. Widespread provision of emergency obstetric care (EmOC) has been shown to be an important strategy for addressing many of the complications that might otherwise lead to maternal death. However, unsafe abortion is one of the major causes of pregnancy-related deaths, and will be only

Interest in abortion research is reemerging, partly as a result of political changes and partly due to evidence of the contribution of induced abortion to maternal mortality in developing countries. Information is lacking on all aspects of induced abortion, particularly methodological issues. This article reviews the methodological dilemmas encountered in previous studies, which provide useful lessons for future research on induced abortion and its complications, including related deaths. Adverse health outcomes of induced abortion are emphasized, because these are largely avoidable with access to safe abortion services. The main sources of information are examined, and their relevance for assessing rates of induced abortion, complications, and mortality is addressed. Two of the major topics are the problems of identifying cases of induced abortion, abortion complications, and related deaths, and the difficulties of selecting a valid and representative sample of women having the outcome of interest, with an appropriate comparison group. The article concludes with a discussion of approaches for improving the accuracy, completeness, and representativeness of information on induced abortion. Although the prospects for high-quality information seem daunting, it is essential that methodological advances accompany program efforts to alleviate this important public health problem. PMID:1523696

Abortion is illegal in Burkina Faso except in cases of incest, rape, fetal defect, or when the woman's life or physical health is endangered. As a result, abortion procedures are often conducted illegally and unsafely and measuring incidence proves difficult. We estimate incidence of abortion and associated morbidity using two methodologies. The first is the Abortion Incidence Complications Method (AICM), which uses information on women hospitalized for abortion-related complications as well as health professionals' assessments of the proportion of women who seek treatment for complications from unsafe abortions. The second is the Anonymous Third Party Reporting (ATPR) method, which entails surveying women about their confidantes' abortions. We conclude that the AICM yields a more accurate result. We estimate that 87,200 abortion procedures were carried out in 2008, representing 25 for every 1,000 women aged 15-49. More than one in four procedures resulted in complications treated at a health facility. The abortion rate estimated using the ATPR approach was 72 percent of that estimated with the AICM. The ATPR method yields information on the characteristics of the women who have abortions as well as the providers and methods they use. PMID:21972666

Background: Induced abortion is not only a serious threat for women’s health, but also a controversial topic for its ethical and moral problems. We aimed to evaluate the relationship between neutralization techniques and attempting to commit abortion in married women with unintended pregnancy. Methods: After in-depth interviews with some women who had attempted abortion, neutralization themes were gathered. Next, to analyze the data quantitatively, a questionnaire was created including demographic and psychosocial variables specifically related to neutralization. The participants were divided into two groups (abortion and control) of unintended pregnancy and were then compared. Results: Analysis of psychosocial variables revealed a significant difference in the two groups at neutralization, showing that neutralization in the control group (56.97±10.24) was higher than that in the abortion group (44.19±12.44). To evaluate the findings more accurately, we examined the causal factors behind the behaviors of the abortion group. Binary logistic regression showed that among psychosocial factors, neutralization significantly affected abortion (95% CI=1.07-1.35). Conclusion: Despite the network of many factors affecting induced abortion, neutralization plays an important role in reinforcing the tendency to attempt abortion. Furthermore, the decline of religious beliefs, as a result of the secular context of the modern world, seems to have an important role in neutralizing induced abortion. PMID:25349851

Child maltreatment is a substantial problem in the U.S. yet has received relatively little attention from economists. This article examines the relationship between abortion availability and economic factors at the time children were conceived and subsequent measures of child maltreatment in the U.S. as well as the influence of contemporaneous economic conditions. Our measures of child maltreatment are state-level rates

Senior spacesuit expert, will present information about Launch, Entry and Abort (LEA) spacesuits - part of an overall vehicle crew escape and survival system. These LEA spacesuits are worn during the launch and reentry to enhance crew survival. The U.S. has traditionally called these spacesuits Intravehicular Activity (IVA) spacesuits. The Russians refer to this type of spacesuit as "Rescue Suits." Thomas will discuss the success of the LEA suits and the consequences of eliminating their use or providing inadequate systems.

Individuals as members of societies are subject to externally imposed norms of behavior (laws). When societal control and regulation adversely impact upon individual autonomy, conflict is frequently the end product. Such issues surround the rights of privacy vis-a-vis the abortion issue. The Supreme Court addressed this issue in the 1988-1989 term. This article critically examines the court's decision and raises questions of individual and professional import. PMID:2269898

For law students, learning about the world of legal citations is key. For many years, the standard reference work on legal citation was a manual known as "The Bluebook". This work has been revised numerous times over the years, and this online version appeared in May 2007. It is offered here as a public service, by the Legal Information Institute (LII) at Cornell University's Law School, and it will be helpful for those looking for a quick online reference work. It is worth noting that this particular introduction is focused on the forms of citation used in processional practice rather that those used in journal publication. Visitors can search through the contents at their leisure, and they can also jump around to sections that cover the use of underlining, italics, and citation principles.

Adolescent pregnancies have risen in recent years. Options open to the pregnant adolescent are: terminating the pregnancy; giving birth to the child out of wedlock; keeping the baby; giving the baby up for adoption; and marriage before or after the birth of the baby. Each of these options carries certain legal ramifications, since the adolescent patients have not reached the age of majority. The state or the parents usually assume the role of decision making on behalf of the adolescent or assist in the decision making process. Court rulings since the early seventies have legalizedabortion and enlarged the rights of minors seeking termination of their pregnancies. Both parents and minors have rights under the certain state laws; parent have the right to notification, minors have the right to privacy. Keeping the child, out of wedlock, might result in legal battles over custody and/or establishing financial support from the father. Some adolescent mothers give up their children for adoption. There are 2 legal procedures that have to be accomplished before a child can be adopted: termination of the rights of the natural parents and adoption proceedings. If the parents marry after the birth of the child, the child is then considered legitimate and the father does not have to go through the process of adopting the child. Other issues requiring parental or individual consent include consent to treatment, contraception, or sterilization. In the case of forcible rape or incest, the physician is required to report incidents to law enforcement officials. PMID:3602637

Although studies have examined clinical characteristics of kleptomania, no previous studies have examined the legal consequences\\u000a of kleptomania. From 2001 to 2007, 101 adult subjects (n = 27 [26.7%] males) with DSM-IV kleptomania were assessed on sociodemographics and clinical characteristics including symptom\\u000a severity, comorbidity, and legal repercussions. Of 101 subjects with kleptomania, 73.3% were female. Mean age of shoplifting\\u000a onset was 19.4 ± 12.0 years,

This paper estimates the responsiveness of abortion demand among teenage women to variations in the local availability of abortion services. This information is especially important because the policy debate centers on how restricting the availability of abortion services will affect abortion rates. In addition, it is commonly thought that teenage and adult women differ in the abortion decision process, making

Although only a small proportion of abortions performed in the United States are second?trimester abortions, teenagers obtain a large percentage of them. Yet the literature on abortion seekers is remarkably lacking in a discussion of who the pregnant teenagers who seek abortions are, particularly those who seek second?trimester abortions. We report a study of 97 adolescents who turned for help

This article presents an overview of abortion practices and attitudes in primitive societies and in Western civilization. The changing positions of the major world religions and nations are provided. Attention is given both to restrictions on abortion and to its active promotion, as exemplified by current conditions in the People's Republic of China. A brief history of abortion in the United States is presented, following by the results of two major polls on consumer attitudes. The latter data indicate a growing liberalization of abortion attitudes and an association between such liberal beliefs and the following factors: age under 40 years, higher education, non-Catholicism, irregular church attendance, and positive attitude toward sex education in the schools and availability of contraceptives for teenage girls. It is also shown that people who strongly oppose abortion are more likely than advocates of abortion to lend financial or other forms of tangible support to their cause. PMID:7039314

Ascending infections of equine uterus frequently result in placentitis and abortions; most of these infections are bacterial and are less commonly due to fungi. This report describes an abortion case in an Arab mare due to Candida guilliermondii that was diagnosed via cytological, histological, cultural and biomolecular assays. The histological lesions found were severe necrotizing placentitis associated with fetal pneumonia. To our knowledge this is the first case of C. guilliermondii abortion reported in equine species. PMID:24707460

UN policies have been narrowly focused and have created within the international community the disintegration of family planning and postabortion family planning services. Local policy markers were thus encouraged to circumvent the difficult policy issues surrounding abortion. The result was unsafe abortion as the leading cause of maternal mortality and morbidity. Health professionals must resist the pressures to segregate abortion from reproductive health. The destructive effect is evident in the lives lost, the chronic disability or injury. and the deterioration of families. Death, disability, and injury is preventable in the case of abortion. The current political climate has changed and there is more support throughout the world for dealing with unsafe abortion. Efforts were made in the formation of a 25-member technical working group in Bellagio, Italy, in February 1993 to focus attention on reintegrating abortion and family planning. Conference participants represented a range of professions related to reproductive health needs. The group consensus was that abortion care facilities and family planning programs must be responsive to provision of family planning services to abortion patients. Family planning centers must serve all women and provide referral when abortion services are not part of the program. Abortion care providers must be aware of family planning and create links with providers of family planning. High-quality services are the goal that can be achieved by designing programs to meet the need of individuals rather than an arbitrary set of standards. Post-abortion family planning can be improved despite restrictive laws and must not be ignored until laws have changed. Political and managerial will is required in order to improve access to a full range of reproductive health services for women. It is an ethically responsible mandate to facilitate access to safe, appropriate contraceptive information and services following abortion. PMID:8105318

This paper presents results of a validation survey of abortion conducted in Tallinn, Estonia in April and May 1992. The sample\\u000a was drawn from patient records in a maternity hospital. Women who had an abortion in that hospital in 1991 were asked about\\u000a recent abortions as part of a survey about women’s health. More than 80% of the respondents reported

This paper begins with a discussion of the current legal definition of sex laid down in Corbett v Corbett. The implications of this test for three areas of the law, marriage, birth certificates and employment are then examined. Solutions from the United States of America and West Germany are studied and the suitability of similar solutions being transplanted into British

The 21st century has brought many technological, social, and economic changes--nearly all of which have affected schools and the students, administrators, and faculty members who are in them. Luckily, as some things change, other things remain the same. Such is true with the fundamental legal principles that guide school administrators' actions…

Problems arise in the areas of child custody, insurance, real and personal property, and wills and estates. Individuals choosing to cohabit should consider the ramifications of cohabitation prior to or early in the development of their relationship in order to avoid devastating legal complications. (Author)

The paper provides information concerning legal issues relating to sex bias which may be inherent in the present popular usage of standardized interest measurement instruments, focusing on current laws and guidelines, and the possible implications of judicial decisions which relate to sex bias and interest testing in education and employment…

This chapter of "Principles of School Business Management" discusses the implications of several court cases for legal issues affecting the role of the school business official. The issues addressed include civil rights, negligence, contracts, criminal liability, tuition and fees, and student records. The chapter opens with a brief overview of…

In 1997, CLEAR(asterisk)Sr (Coordinated Legal Education, Advice and Referral for Seniors) was formed with a Title IV grant to expand the access of older Americans to our services. CLEAR(asterisk)Sr was designed to accomplish the following objectives: (I) ...

Several sections of the Criminal Code of Canada which are relevant to the issue of euthanasia are discussed. In addition, the value placed on the sanctity of life by the law, the failure to recognize motive in cases of euthanasia, and disparate legal and medical definitions of death are also considered. (Author)

This study surveyed all family physicians, obstetrician-gynecologists, and general surgeons practicing in rural Idaho in 1994. Although most respondents provided a wide range of reproductive health services, less than 4% performed abortions, so most rural Idaho women wanting abortions must travel long distances for this procedure. Physicians report that they do not provide abortion services because of both their own moral objections and local community opposition to the procedure. Yet 26% of the respondents indicated interest in using RU-486 for abortions when it becomes available. This suggests that the development of acceptable medical abortifacients may improve access to this procedure even in very conservative rural areas. PMID:7573629

Since Roe v. Wade, most states have passed laws either restricting or further protecting reproductive rights. During a wave of anti-abortion\\u000a violence in the early 1990s, several states also enacted legislation protecting abortion clinics, staff, and patients. One\\u000a hypothesis drawn from the theoretical literature predicts that these laws provide a deterrent effect and thus fewer anti-abortion\\u000a crimes in states that

... the legal and financial systems. Advanced Directives An advance health care directive is a kind of legal document that tells ... care. Here we review general information about different advance health care directives, like health care power of attorney, living wills, ...

Created by a group of Kentucky's legal service providers, the focus of the Legal Aid Network of Kentucky's website is to provide helpful information about legal services available to specific "groups of vulnerable Kentuckians". These groups include people who meet certain income guidelines, people 60 years and older, and in some cases, those people who are victims of domestic violence. Visitors will find that the site has five primary sections, including "Find Legal Help", "Self-Help Forms", and "Law Library". Visitors can use the "Find Legal Help" area to look up local legal services from across the state or by using an interactive map provided here. The "Video Library" area offers short videos about bankruptcy, eviction, and foreclosure. It is important to remember that these videos provide legal information, and do not constitute legal advice. Finally, visitors can also use the search engine here to look for information on specific topics.

This study explained the variation in US state abortion demand due to the price of services, the net of insurance cost of birth services, the ability to pay, contraceptive use, individual attitudes regarding abortion, and government policy affecting cost of benefits of terminating an unintended pregnancy or of carrying to birth. The empirical model uses pooled data from 48 states for 1982, 1984, 1985, and 1987. Prices are deflated to 1977 dollars. Another two-staged least squares model is based on cross-sectional state level data for 1985. The dependent variable is the log of abortion per 1000 pregnancies. Other variables pertain to income, education, labor force, family planning, tax, aid to families with dependent children, religion, and abortion-related measures. The results of the cross-sectional analysis are consistent with Medoff's and Garbacz's findings. The estimated coefficient of per capita income is positive with a point elasticity ranging from 0.62 to 1.0. The model with the most complete specifications has an abortion price elasticity range from -0.75 to -1.3 and is statistically significant when religion measures are excluded. The Hausman test shows the pro-choice variable significantly correlated with the error term. The net price of birth services is not statistically significant. Catholic religion and no religion are only significant when the abortion provider variable is excluded. The suggestion is that the effect of Catholicism is ambiguous. In the pooled analysis, the fixed effects model is used to control for abortion attitudes and other unobserved factors. Abortion demand includes abortion per 1000 pregnancies, the ratio of abortions to pregnancies, and the logarithm of abortions per 1000 pregnancies. Higher income is associated with a higher abortion rate and elasticities of 0.76 and 0.35 and is associated with a higher pregnancy rate. The abortion ratio is found to be elastic with respect to price, and price elasticities are sensitive to choice of state abortion attitude measures. The availability of family planning services reduces the rate of pregnancy as well as the abortion rate and ratio. PMID:12346320

going back to Roman Law is P.J.J. Olivier, Legal Fictions in Practice and Legal Science (Rotterdam 1975 is being condemned justifies the condemnation. * David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Virginia; Visiting Professor of Law, Columbia University. 1 A valuable survey of legal fictions

Legal medicine addresses the interface between medicine and law in health care. The Australian College of Legal Medicine (ACLM) established itself as the peak body in legal and forensic medicine in Australia. It helped establish the Expert Witness Institute of Australia (EWIA), the legal medicine programme at Griffith University and contributes to government enquiries. Public health, disability assessment, competing priorities of privacy verses notification and determination of fitness for a host of pursuits are aspects of legal medicine. Complementing the EWIA, the ACLM runs training programmes emphasising legal medicine skills additional to clinical practice, advocating clinical relevance. Assessment of athletes' fitness and ensuring that prohibited substances are not inadvertently prescribed represent a growing area of legal medicine. Ethical consideration of health care should respect legal medicine principles rather than armchair commentary. International conventions must be respected by legal medicine and dictate physicians' obligations. The NSW courts imposed a duty to provide emergency medical care. Migration and communicable diseases are aspects of legal medicine. Police surgeons provide a face to legal medicine (which incorporates forensic medicine) underpinning its public perception of specialty recognition. Legal medicine deserves its place as a medical specialty in its own right. PMID:18313010

The argument advanced by Giubilini and Minerva is an important one, but it suffers from some shortcomings. I briefly criticise their reasoning and method and argue that after birth abortion should be limited largely to infants with disabilities. My argument is based not on solid scientific evidence or cold rational reasoning but on intuition, something that has long been discounted as irrelevant in biomedical discourse. I end with a recommendation to all of us: in order to make a change, one should not only choose one's battles, but also one's weapon and mode of attack. PMID:23637457

Sommers takes strong issue with the thesis of Michael Tooley's book, Abortion and Infanticide (New York: Oxford University Press; 1984)--that there is nothing seriously wrong with painlessly killing human infants, even those that are healthy and normal. She reviews Tooley's arguments about what constitutes personhood and his contention that human infants first become "quasi-persons" at the age of three months, then recommmends that opponents of infanticide meet his challenge on different grounds--that the human infant is distinctive in being the product of responsible persons who are morally committed to its care "on arrival." PMID:11643787

On March 20, the House voted 295-136 in favor of HR 1122, "The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1997." As a result of a last-minute substitution, the bill that was approved is identical to HR 1833, the legislation that passed the House and Senate last year but failed to muster enough votes to override President Clinton's veto (see RFN V/8). HR 1122 would prohibit a physician from using the method--which, as described, suggests but does not accurately define the abortion procedure known as intact dilation and evacuation--unless a woman's life is endangered and no other procedure would suffice. Violators would be penalized with a fine and/or up to two years in prison. In addition, the bill provides grounds on which a woman's husband (or, if she is under 18, her parents) may obtain relief in a civil suit. The substitute bill came in place of HR 929, which passed the House Judiciary Committee on March 12 (see RFN VI/5). With minor differences, that measure also targeted the abortion procedure known as intact dilation and evacuation, and it, too, was vague enough to outlaw other second-trimester abortion methods. With the change, anti-choice leaders in Congress appear to be holding members who oppose the ban, and the president, politically accountable for maintaining their position in the face of a renewed discussion of the number of such procedures performed. Five representatives--Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), Martin Frost (D-TX), Sue Kelly (R-NY), Christopher Shays (R-CT), and Peter Visclosky (D-IN)--succumbed and voted in favor of a ban after opposing it last year. With or without their switch, the margin of victory is sufficient to override the veto promised by President Clinton. But while the equivalent bill in the Senate, S 6, is likely to also be approved, it is believed that its proponents are several votes shy off a veto-proof margin. S 6 is currently under consideration in the Senate Judiciary Committee. PMID:12292216

The Women's Legal History website is the home of a searchable database of articles and papers on pioneering women lawyers in the United States. The site contains sections that include the WLH Biography Project and the index and bibliographic notes from "Woman Lawyer: The Trial of Clara Foltz" by Barbara Babcock. In the WLH Biography Project, visitors can look over the life stories of women in the legal profession, such as Agnes Sagebiel, Marge Wagner, and Julia Jennings. There are over 1,000 profiles that visitors can browse alphabetically or search by name, year, ethnicity, or law school. Additionally, the site contains detailed information about Babcock's recent work, along with media clips related to the subject of women lawyers

Legal Ethi cs and Depression By Michael H. Hoeflich "no" in many, if not most cases. And herein lies the problem. Recent scientific studies have made it very clear that most forms of major depression have definite physical pathologies... that often involve progressive chemical and physical changes to the brain.5 Further, a substantial number of those individ- uals who suffer from major depression have a genetic predis- position to do so. In addition, stress, particularly stress that also...

Cornell University's Law School has an international reputation for scholarly activity, and Scout Report readers will be glad to learn about the online resources afforded by its Legal Information Institute (LII). Founded in 1992 by co-directors Thomas R. Bruce and Peter W. Martin, the LII publishes electronic versions of "core materials in numerous areas of the law". Some of the key materials that users will find here include Supreme Court decisions, decisions of the U.S. Court of Appeals, decisions of the New York Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Code. For those more casual or first-time users, the site has a well-written introduction to basic legal citation and a lexicon of basic legal terms. The homepage of the site also features a selection of recent law events that have made the news, complete with hypertext links to the complete decisions. The "Law aboutÃ¢ÂÂ¦" area is helpful, as visitors can browse around to find information about various sectors of law including enterprise law, criminal law, and constitutional law.

Until recently little attention has been given in the literature to the psychological effects of spontaneous abortion. What has been written has tended to focus almost exclusively on feelings of guilt and grief. In the following case study a woman is described who experienced not only grief and guilt after a missed abortion and D & C, but also significant

This paper explores the decision process in problem pregnancies, based on the decision?making model of Brim et al. (1962). The study compares 29 aborters with 29 women who chose to give birth. The women were interviewed by means of a 7?page schedule designed to elicit answers to questions taken from the literature on abortion and from reference group theory. The

The frequency of chromosomal anomalies in spermatozoa appears to increase with male age. Because these anomalies play a role in the etiology of spontaneous abortion, an influence of paternal age on risk of spontaneous abortion is plausible but not established. The aim was to characterize this influence in a prospective study among 5,121 California women, who as members of a

The article lists recommendations for dealing with methodological aspects of an abortion survey and makes suggestions for testing and validating the survey questionnaire. The recommendations are based on the experience of the Brazilian Abortion Survey (PNA), a random sample household survey that used the ballot-box technique and covered adult women in all urban areas of the country. PMID:22872333

Selective embryo abortion is one of the evolutionary explanations for the surplus of ovules found in many plant species. To manipulate the level of embryo abortion, we removed ovules and applied nutrients to plants of Cynoglossum officinale(Boraginaceae) after they started to flower. From these two treatments and a control series, seeds were collected, germinated, and transplanted in the field to

Roughly 13% of a nationally representative sample of 1,880 15-19-year-old males approve of abortion in each of eight circumstances presented to them, while about 4% disapprove in every instance. The proportions agreeing that abortion is acceptable range as high as 85-90% if the pregnancy endangers the woman's health or results from rape. Any type of religious affiliation, especially religious fundamentalism, is related to weaker support for abortion; an even stronger correlate of abortion attitudes is the importance of religion to the respondent. Abortion attitudes vary little by race after other social background factors are controlled. Those with more liberal attitudes toward premarital sex and those who perceive that they would be upset if they became a father in the immediate future are particularly likely to express acceptance of abortion. Roughly 61% of adolescent males do not feel that it would be all right for a woman to have an abortion if her partner objects, indicating a possible "gender conflict of interest" over the abortion issue. PMID:8405342

and that the woman’s right to privacy encompassed a right to choose abortion free from government burdens, the First German Abortion Decision established that the constitutional guarantee of a right to life encompassed the unborn child and required the state...

Conducted clinical study concerning bereavement process of Greek women after abortion. Found strong identificatory tendencies on both mother and father images. Argues that, in cases of repeated abortion, mourning and guilt do not only refer to murdered and lost "person-fetus" but principally to death and loss of object of ambiguous desire.…

Because of a growing cultural and religious sensitivity and controversy over reproductive health issues, particularly abortion, this area remains relatively unexplored in Egypt. This study was conducted using a participatory approach to determine the morbidity and determinants of abortion in rural Upper Egypt. In all, 1025 women from six villages in Upper Egypt were included in the study. Information regarding

A literature review was conducted to determine whether misoprostol is an effective treatment for incomplete abortion and, if so, to recommend an appropriate regimen. All English language articles published before October 2007 using misoprostol in at least one of the study arms were reviewed to determine the efficacy of misoprostol when used to treat incomplete abortion in the first trimester.

Background and methodologyThere is growing interest in the UK towards increasing treatment options for women undergoing abortion and miscarriage. Such options include home medical treatment and surgery under local anaesthesia (LA). This study aimed to gauge views of women undergoing abortion and treatment for miscarriage at the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh towards medical treatment at home, and surgery under LA, to

A day of launch selection approach that involves choosing from an array of pitch profiles of varying loft was analyzed with the purpose of reducing the risk of a land landing failure during a pad abort. It was determined that selecting from three pitch profiles can reduce the number of waterline abort performance requirement failures approximately in half without compromising other performance metrics.

Iran has had replacement fertility since 2000. Upholding a small family size has led some couples to terminate unwanted pregnancies. Abortion is, however, permitted only on medical grounds in Iran. Using data from the Iran Low Fertility Survey, this study assessed sociodemographic correlates of abortion among a random sample of 5526 ever-married women aged 15-54 years, and used in-depth interviews to explore reasons for and psychological consequences of abortion among 40 women who had experienced an unintended pregnancy. Although social and economic concerns were the main reasons cited for seeking abortion, women experienced anxiety and depression when seeking pregnancy termination and thereafter. Social stigmatization arose from a belief that abortion is sinful and that misfortune experienced thereafter is punishment. Inadequate knowledge and misunderstanding of relevant Sharia laws discouraged women from seeking care when they experienced complications. Iran's reproductive health policies should be revised to integrate pre- and postabortion counseling. PMID:22920623

Reliable quantitative data on abortion are sorely needed, particularly in developing countries. Past experience in large-scale survey research has demonstrated that direct questioning on this subject results in significant underreporting. This article presents results of an experiment to collect data on induced abortion in Côte d'Ivoire within the context of a family planning operations research study. First, questions were employed to broach the topic of unwanted pregnancy in a value-free manner, and then the potential for a variety of actions, including abortion, was acknowledged. The results indicate that approximately 25 percent of all women attending a family planning clinic on the day of the survey had had an induced abortion. The use of improved abortion-related questions shows promise for providing more complete measurement of a neglected dimension of women's reproductive health. PMID:8390117

In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court held that the constitutionally protected right to privacy includes a woman's right to terminate pregnancy. Following the decision, anti-abortion groups turned to Congress to limit or negate that right. As a result of their efforts, several "human life" statutes and constitutional amendments have been proposed. This Article focuses on the implications of proposed amendments that seek to ban or limit the availability of abortions indirectly by broadening the definition of "person" to include unborn individuals. The Article discusses the potentially serious effects such an amendment would have in areas unrelated to abortion. It finds that the resulting chaos and uncertainty would have great social costs, and concludes that if abortions are to be banned or restricted, a human life amendment that directly deals with abortion is preferable to one that defines "person" to include the unborn. PMID:7148834

Although many studies have found an association between childhood adversities and mental health disorders, few have examined whether childhood adversities are linked to having abortions. This research investigates the association between a range of childhood adversities and risk of abortion in part to identify which adversities should be considered when examining the association between abortion and subsequent mental health. Using the U.S. National Comorbidity Survey-Replication (NCS-R), we tested the association between 10 childhood adversities and risk of 0, 1, or multiple abortions among 1511 women ages 18-41. We employed multinomial logistic regression to examine the independent association between each childhood adversity and number of subsequent abortions, controlling for sociodemographic factors, total number of pregnancies, and each adversity. Women who had experienced two or more personal safety threats, one parental mental illness, or two or more parental mental illnesses while growing up were more likely subsequently to have multiple versus no abortions [Relative Risk Ratio (RRR) = 9.87, 95% CI: 2.45-39.72; OR = 2.81, 95% CI: 1.27-6.21; RRR = 5.28, 95% CI: 1.60-17.38, respectively], and multiple versus one abortion [RRR = 13.33, 95% CI: 2.48-71.68; RRR = 2.17, 95% CI: 1.03-4.56; RRR = 3.67, 95% CI: 1.15-11.76, respectively]. Women who had experienced childhood physical abuse were more likely to have one compared to no abortions [RRR = 2.00; 1.19-3.34]. These results suggest that some childhood adversities may partially explain the association between abortion and mental health. Accordingly, they should be considered in future research examining the link between abortion and mental health. PMID:23312795

Bioethics is a relatively new way of thinking about relationships in medical practice. It enables reflection on ethical conflicts, and opens up management options without dictating rules. Despite this historical context, medical ethics has been sidelined in the course of the development of bioethics. Bioethical reflection does not automatically result in changes to conflict resolution in daily doctor-patient relationships. However, these reflections are important because they promote the search for a "moral consensus" that establishes new ethical rules for day-to-day medical practice. We suggest that there is no conflict between bioethics and medical ethics; rather, these areas interact to establish new standards of behaviour among physicians. The legalisation of orthothanasia in Brazil is one example of how this theory of moral consensus might operate. On the other hand, the legal battle on abortion illustrates how the law cannot change without such a moral consensus. PMID:23439203

Explosive abortion outbreaks in 4 Dutch dairy herds during 1992 to 1994 are reported. In 50 of 51 fetuses submitted during the first 3 wk of the outbreaks characteristic histological lesions compatible for infection with Neospora caninum were seen. Diagnosis of infection was confirmed by immunohistochemistry in 40 fetuses (78%). No evidence for other abortifacients was found.The abortion risk of

In 1990, in Israel, the fertility rate was on average, 3 births per woman of reproductive age. Among Jewish women there were 2.7 births, a lower rate than among the Arab minority who make up 18% of the population. Nonetheless, fertility has been declining since 1950, attributed by some to induced abortion, although the growing contraceptive use and lower number of marriages among Jews since 1970 are more likely factors. The abortion law of 1977 permitted abortion for women under 17 years of age or over age 40 in the case of rape, incest, or extramarital affair fetal malformation or endanger of the health of the mother by pregnancy. During the period of 1980 to 1990, 15,000-16,000 abortions were performed per year. The rate declined from 18-20 abortions/1000 women during 1979-83 to 15 during 1987-90. In 1990 there were 18,000 applications for abortions. 16,400 were accepted, and 15,300 of these were carried out. The figures of 1988-90 indicate that the proportion of abortions corresponded to 18% of births to Israel, compared to 10% in the Netherlands, 32% in Sweden, and 70% in Czechoslovakia. The postulated increase in the aggregate index of fertility would be 7-8% by avoiding all nontherapeutic abortions, which would raise the average number of births/woman to 3.2-3.3 from the actual figure of 3.0-3.1 births. The rate of voluntary induced abortions is 40% of pregnancies in women aged over 40 and 33% in women aged under 20, both comprising only 10% of women in reproductive age. The chances of denial of applications for abortion are highest in the 20-39 age group, who also resort to illegal abortions if refused; thus the rate of non therapeutic abortions in this age group is probably higher. The western cultural attitudes of Israelis advocating the freedom of women is contrary to the restrictions against nontherapeutic abortions, whose lifting would exert only a minor effect on general fertility levels of the women in the country. PMID:12222249

Background An increasing proportion of Canadian induced abortions are performed in large urban areas. For unknown reasons the number of rural abortion providers in Canadian provinces, such as British Columbia (BC), has declined substantially. This study explored the experiences of BC rural and urban physicians providing abortion services. Methods The mixed methods BC Abortion Providers Survey employed self-administered questionnaires, distributed to all known current and some past BC abortion providers in 2011. The optional semi-structured interviews are the focus of this analysis. Interview questions probed the experiences, facilitators and challenges faced by abortion providers, and their future intentions. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using cross-case and thematic analysis. Results Twenty interviews were completed and transcribed, representing 13/27 (48.1%) rural abortion providers, and 7/19 (36.8%) of urban providers in BC. Emerging themes differed between urban and rural providers. Most urban providers worked within clinics and reported a supportive environment. Rural physicians, all providing surgical abortions within hospitals, reported challenging barriers to provision including operating room scheduling, anesthetist and nursing logistical issues, high demand for services, professional isolation, and scarcity of replacement abortion providers. Many rural providers identified a need to “fly under the radar” in their small community. Discussion This first study of experiences among rural and urban abortion providers in Canada identifies addressable challenges faced by rural physicians. Rural providers expressed a need for increased support from hospital administration and policy. Further challenges identified include a desire for continuing professional education opportunities, and for available replacement providers. PMID:23840588

In Canada the declining birthrate and the increase in life expectancy is producing a steady change in the distribution of the population. Every country needs a balance between different age groups to maintain an equilibrium between the working and nonworking sectors. When the pyramid is reversed and the older members outnumber the supporting group, the care of the elderly rests primarily with the government. This is Canada's situation. The main factor in the growth of the population has been natural increase (or the excess of births over deaths), but this has declined progressively, from 23/1000 population in 1961 to only 8.3/1000 in 1977. Since the crude death rate has leveled off since 1967, the reason for this decline is the significant reduction in the number of births. The "baby boom" of the 1950s increased the number of women currently in the reproductive years, but there has been a progressive decrease in fertility rates. The main reasons for this decrease are the availability of better contraceptive methods and the liberalization of abortion laws in 1969. Each year an average of 60,000 therapeutic abortions are performed in Canada. If therapeutic abortions were included among other causes of death, they would represent the 2nd most frequent cause of death. Statistics Canada has projected that the annual rate of population growth in 2026 will have a negative value of 0.1 in spite of a presumed constant net immigration of 50,000 annually. Emigration also plays an important role, yet it is difficult to estimate because the only statements required when a Canadian resident leaves the country are those on an income tax return. At least 48,000 Canadians emigrated each year between 1966-76. If the present age distribution of the Canadian population is analyzed, and these figures are projected to the year 2026, one observes a significant increase in the elderly age groups and a significant decrease in the groups of working age. The slowdown in population growth and the changes to the age group distribution will require modifications in health care facilities. The elderly make more demands on physicians' services than other age groups, and their medical problems persist longer. Other social problems faced by the elderly in areas such as housing, jobs, clothing, and nutrition will necessitate radical structural changes to society. PMID:6861040

A case of inversion of the uterus following abortion is reported. The 35-year old patient, admitted October 10, 1978 to the Medical College and Hospitals in Calcutta, India was referred by a private practitioner with a history of amenorrhea for 16 weeks, bleeding for 3 days, expulsion of the fetus 3 days earlier, and something coming down per vaginum for 2 days. The patient was para 4+0 (all full term normal deliveries) and home delivery for the last child 1 1/2 years earlier. She had a history of regular menstrual periods. Her general condition was poor. The examination revealed a gangrenous mass coming out of the vulva with a very offensive smell. There was a raw surface on which placenta like tissue was attached. No active bleeding was seen. Fundus and cervix of the uterus could not be felt. On rectal examination the uterus could not be felt, a cup-like depression was felt at the site of the uterus. The provision diagnosis was inversion of uterus following abortion. Treatment was started with sedatives and antibiotics, and arrangements were made for a blood transfusion. The vaginal mass was covered with glycerine and acriflavine gauze, and a hysterectomy was decided upon after improvement of her general condition and control of the infection. On October 14th, the patient was placed in knee chest position and posterior vaginal wall was retracted with Sims' speculum when the inverted lump was spontaneously reduced within the vagina. The inverted uterus was felt in the region of the vaginal vault. Glycerine acriflavine pack was given which was taken out and repack was given daily until the operation. The hysterectomy was performed on October 23rd. The abdomen was opened up by a transverse incision and the pelvis was explored. In the region of the uterus a cup-shaped depression was noted. Tubes and ovaries of both sides were seen hanging laterally from the cupped area. The left tube was found congested and thickened. Reduction of uterus was done by making a vertical incision over the posterior rim of cervix and with pressure from below by a sponge holding forceps by an assistant. The uterus was found to be just bulky. A total hysterectomy was performed. The postoperative period was uneventful. The histopathological report showed chorionic villi with degeneration and necrosis. In the case reported, etiology of inversion of the uterus following an abortion may be because of a lack of muscle tone along with traction of placental tissue by a traditional midwife. PMID:7169538

Two notable limitations exist on the use of personhood arguments in establishing moral status. Firstly, although the attribution of personhood may give us sufficient reason to grant something moral status, it is not a necessary condition. Secondly, even if a person is that which has the 'highest' moral status, this does not mean that any interests of a person are justifiable grounds to kill something that has a 'lower' moral status. Additional justification is needed to overcome a basic wrongness associated with killing something possessing moral status. There are clear arguments already available in this regard in the case of a foetus that are not available in the case of a newborn infant. Hence, there is scope to consistently hold that abortion may be permissible but that after-birth abortion may not be permissible. PMID:23637455

A social experiment and pilot project funded by the French Directorate General of Social Cohesion aimed at providing legal aid services ("legal empowerment and mental health") has been conducted since 2009 in three healthcare institutions in Paris (France): the Centre Hospitalier Sainte-Anne, the Groupe Public de Santé Perray-Vaucluse, and the Hôpital Tenon (psychotraumatology unit). Lasting until 2012 and piloted by the NGO Droits d'Urgence, the initiative aims to promote the legal empowerment of socially excluded people suffering from psychiatric or mental disorders and to facilitate access to care. The initiative operates on two levels, providing legal support to vulnerable people and offering legal expertise and advice to medical and social staff. An ad-hoc intervention approach was designed to ensure the implementation of the initiative based on several combined tools: legal aid, technical committees, awareness-raising activities, and pooling of legal resources and information. Developed across the three institutions, this integrated and subsidiary initiative improves our understanding of the complex circumstances of disempowered people ? who are often faced with overlapping social, medical, administrative and legal difficulties ? and helps to take into account their vulnerabilities. The cross-professional and cross-boundary system promoted by this initiative involves medical staff, social workers and lawyers around patients viewed as both actors and legal subjects. PMID:22370083

Foetal death, or abortion at term, in sheep is of major significance to the livestock industry, accounting for more than £24million lost per annum. We have investigated whether there is a genetic component to abortion within two flocks of pedigree Charollais sheep, one followed from 1989 to 2006, the other from 1992 to 2006. Abortion occurred at a rate of 5.74-8.78% per annum against a total mortality rate of 14-24%. By model covariate analysis we have shown that 15.5% aborting ewes went on to have one or more abortions and that this risk increased with parity (p=0.006). Heritability estimates were approximately 0.08 as calculated by SOLAR, pedigreemm and ASReml3, with sire and dam components of 0.046 and 0.048, respectively. Where the lamb was aborted, heritability estimates were highly variable according to the method employed, 0.046-0.378, with sex of the lamb being a significant covariate. This variability indicated one or more underlying, significant factors that were not measured in these analyses, potentially including infectious agents that may be involved. Nevertheless, the ASReml3 estimate (0.179) resolved to 0.074 variance attributable to the sire and 0.092 attributable to the dam, which, while not significant, was suggestive that genetic variants passed by the dam to the lamb may be of more weight than that from the sire in determining whether a lamb will abort. PMID:25037445

In Hohoe, induced abortion is the second highest cause of hospital admissions. We aimed to describe factors influencing induced abortion among 408 randomly selected women aged 15–49 years. 21% of women had had an abortion; of those, 36% said they did not want to disrupt their education or employment; 66% of the abortions were performed by doctors. Bivariate logistic regression showed that compared with women with secondary education, women with basic education (OR=0.31, CI:0.18–0.54) and uneducated women (OR=0.24, CI:0.07–0.70) were significantly less likely to have had an abortion. Women who were married (OR=1.83, CI:1.10–3.04), peri-urban residents, compared with rural (OR=1.88, CI:0.95–3.94), and women with formal employment (OR=2.22, CI:0.86–5.45), were more likely to have had an abortion. Stakeholders should improve access to effective contraception to lower the chance of needing an abortion and targeting education programmes at those with unmet need for contraception. PMID:21812204

A wind tunnel test conducted in a 14-inch trisonic wind tunnel to determine the force and moment characteristics of the ATP Orbiter and modified ATP External Tank/SRB combination during abort staging conditions is discussed. Six component aerodynamic force and moment data were recorded for the orbiter and ET/SRB combination. Pitch polars were obtained for an angle of attack range from minus 10 to plus 10 degrees and orbiter incidence angles (orbiter relative to the ET/SRB combination) of 0 and 2 degrees. A limited amount of yaw data were obtained at 0 degree angle of attack and beta range from minus 10 to plus 10 degrees. In addition, orbiter pitch control effectiveness was determined at several grid points. These force and moment data were obtained for Mach numbers of 0.9, 1.2 and 2.0.

NASA and DOD studies of medical-planning and logistical problems are reviewed as applicable to providing emergency medical care at remote transoceanic abort landing (TAL) sites. Two options are analyzed including a modified surgical response team and a combination physician/medical technician team. The two concepts are examined in terms of cost-effectiveness, specific types of medical support such as blood procurement, and search-and-rescue requirements. It is found that the physician/technician team is more economically efficient, and the description of the concept permits the development of an effective TAL-site astronaut medical-support system. A balance is struck between the competing problems of cost and medical capability by planning for on-scene medical stabilization and air evacuation to DOD tertiary medical centers.

A popular view of what Artificial Intelligence can do for lawyers is that it can do no more than deduce the consequences from a precisely stated set of facts and legal rules. This immediately makes many lawyers sceptical about the usefulness of such systems: this mechanical approach seems to leave out most of what is important in legal reasoning. A case does not appear as a set of facts, but rather as a story told by a client. For example, a man may come to his lawyer saying that he had developed an innovative product while working for Company A. Now Company B has made him an offer of a job, to develop a similar product for them. Can he do this? The lawyer firstly must interpret this story, in the context, so that it can be made to fit the framework of applicable law. Several interpretations may be possible. In our example it could be seen as being governed by his contract of employment, or as an issue in Trade Secrets law.

In this paper we use the New Immigrant Survey Pilot Study (NISP) to describe the amount and kind of experience that immigrants accumulate in the United States before they become permanent resident aliens. The NISP surveyed a representative sample of legal immigrants who acquired residence papers during July and August of 1996, yielding a completed sample of 1,135 adults. Our analysis revealed that roughly two-thirds of these newly arrived immigrants had prior experience in the United States within one of six basic categories: illegal border-crossers, visa abusers, non-resident visitors, non-resident workers, students or exchange visitors, and refugees/asylees. Each of these pathways to legal immigration was associated with a different profile with respect to nationality, social background, and economic status. Using simple earnings regressions we demonstrate how these differences can yield misleading conclusions about the process of immigrant adaptation and assimilation, even if measured effects are reasonably accurate. We suggest that social scientists should change the way they think and ask about immigrants’ arrival in the United States. PMID:20830313

Selected results are presented of a national opinion survey on abortion conducted in Mexico in 1991 by the Gallup Organization. 2579 subjects were asked, among other things, who should have the right to make decisions regarding abortion. The respondents were 15-46 years old and were evenly divided by sex. 19.8% were of upper, 40.2% of middle, and 39.9% of lower socioeconomic status. Among men, women, and the total sample, respectively, 38.8%, 46.3%, and 42.5% claimed the decision should be made exclusively by the woman; 38.7%, 32.1%, and 35.5% that it should be made by the couple; 18.0%, 15.3%, and 16.6% that it should be made by the woman with advise of a physician, priest, or the government, and 4.8%, 7.0%, and 5.8% that no one had a right to make such a decision. 50.9% of women but only 39.3% of men said that the opinion of the Catholic Church should be considered. The proportions believing that the decision should be made exclusively by the woman ranged from 42.1% for respondents 15-20 years old to 44.9% for those 26-35. 48.2% of upper, 42.3% of middle, and 42.0% of lower socioeconomic status felt the decision should be made by the woman. 47.0% of upper, 39.7% of middle, and 48.5% of lower socioeconomic status felt the opinion of the Church should be considered. Only 32.9% of respondents in the city of Guadalajara compared to 44.0% in Mexico City and 48.9% in Monterrey felt the decision should be made exclusively by the woman. PMID:12158075

Driven by the importation of western learning to China by Protestant missionaries in the nineteenth century and compilation\\u000a and publication of legal and political serial books and magazines by students studying in Japan in the late Tsing Dynasty,\\u000a modern Chinese legal periodicals appeared officially and developed vigorously. These legal periodicals facilitated the modern\\u000a transformation of traditional Chinese ideology and academy

Review Article Abstract: Many plant species abort a large fraction of their em- bryos. It has often abort- ed. Such selective embryo abortion would lead to investment of resources only in the offspring with the highest potential fit- ness. Many studies have shown that otherwise viable embryos are aborted. However

Delay deciding to abort and, consequently, increased risk of complication and death occurs significantly more often in black versus white women. This study is of 113 black and 179 white women aborted at Yale-New Haven Hospital and compares their decision to seek abortion, particularly differences in delay. Delay seeing a physician, deciding to abort, and suspecting pregnancy were, in rank

are propagules able to root and produce new plants with the same genotype of the mother. Abortion would haveORIGINAL PAPER Fruit abortion in the Chihuahuan-Desert endemic cactus Opuntia microdasys Hugo H to explain fruit abortion. To assess whether abortion in Opuntia microdasys was due to resource and/or pollen

KEYWORDS Recurrent spontaneous abortions; HLA and other genes associated; psychosomatics; abortions in India ABSTRACT Recurrent Spontaneous Abortion (RSA), Habitual Abortion or Habitual Miscarriage is the loss of 3 or more consecutive pregnancies before the 24 th week of gestation. RSA occurs chiefly due to either a problem with the pregnancy or when there is a problem in the environment where

Through more than a decade of operation, we have noticed the phenomena of beam loss induced kicker instability in the RHIC beam abort systems. In this study, we analyze the short term beam loss before abort kicker pre-fire events and operation conditions before capacitor failures. Beam loss has caused capacitor failures and elevated radiation level concentrated at failed end of capacitor has been observed. We are interested in beam loss induced radiation and heat dissipation in large oil filled capacitors and beam triggered thyratron conduction. We hope the analysis result would lead to better protection of the abort systems and improved stability of the RHIC operation.

One common objection to fetal tissue transplantation (FTT) is that, if it were to become a standard form of treatment, it would encourage or entrench the practice of abortion. This claim is at least factually plausible, although it cannot be definitively established. However, even if true, it does not constitute a compelling ethical argument against FTT. The harm allegedly brought about by FTT, when assessed by widely accepted non-consequentialist criteria, has limited moral significance. Even if FTT would cause more abortions to be performed, and abortion is taken to be a serious moral wrong, this is not sufficient in itself to make FTT wrong. PMID:9831285

In a series of 2922 karyotyped spontaneous abortions, 62 were found to be trisomic for chromosome 13, 46 having a simple trisomy and 16 a translocation trisomy. The epidemiology of this series of trisomy 13 conceptuses is presented and compared to that of trisomy 13 ascertained from other populations. In most compared parameters the trisomy 13 spontaneous abortions are very similar. However, there is no evidence in our material for the fall in proportion of trisomy 13 conceptuses at very advanced maternal ages that has been reported in three previous studies, one of spontaneous abortions and two of amniocentesis specimens. PMID:3430552

Abortion is largely accepted even for reasons that do not have anything to do with the fetus' health. By showing that (1) both fetuses and newborns do not have the same moral status as actual persons, (2) the fact that both are potential persons is morally irrelevant and (3) adoption is not always in the best interest of actual people, the authors argue that what we call 'after-birth abortion' (killing a newborn) should be permissible in all the cases where abortion is, including cases where the newborn is not disabled. PMID:22361296

Changing Legal Systems: Legal Abrogations and Annulments in Defeasible Logic Guido Governatori1 on norm change have drawn some attention in the deontic logic and AI & Law communities, they are still reasoning, but has serious implications, for example, in developing multi-agent systems (MAS). Indeed

Social pressures and legal restrictions are proliferating against pregnant women. A dramatic infringement on women's rights is the court ordered cesarean section, as illustrated by the case of Angela C., a terminally ill cancer patient, 26 weeks pregnant, whose refusal of a cesarean section was overridden by a District of Columbia court. The premature infant and the mother died within two days. This case epitomizes a developing judicial pattern whose ethical reasoning the author criticizes. Within the context of the right to privacy and the concept of viability, which could legally override that right, Mahowald analyzes different situations where cesarean delivery is refused. After arguing that court ordered cesarean sections are inconsistent with court refusals to force persons to undergo less invasive procedures (e.g., bone marrow donation for the benefit of family members), she proposes alternatives to the present inconsistent practice. PMID:11649241

For better or for worse, the practice of pathology has evolved rapidly in the last decade, particularly the last several years. The dominance of certain national and regional pathology providers and the in-sourcing of pathology services as a revenue stream by nonpathology specialists have transformed pathology services into a commodity in many market, rather than a professional medical service. Despite significant health care reform and a myriad of compliance laws and regulations, it is unlikely that pathology practice will return to "the good old days." As a result, it is important for pathologists to become familiar with the trends in their specialty and have familiarity with the legal issues presented by these trends. PMID:21993273

This paper describes initial flight performance analyses conducted early in the Orion Project to support concept feasibility studies for the Crew Exploration Vehicle s Launch Abort System (LAS). Key performance requirements that significantly affect abort capability are presented. These requirements have implications on sizing the Abort Motor, tailoring its thrust profile to meet escape requirements for both launch pad and high drag/high dynamic pressure ascent aborts. Additional performance considerations are provided for the Attitude Control Motor, a key element of the Orion LAS design that eliminates the need for ballast and provides performance robustness over a passive control approach. Finally, performance of the LAS jettison function is discussed, along with implications on Jettison Motor sizing and the timing of the jettison event during a nominal mission. These studies provide an initial understanding of LAS performance that will continue to evolve as the Orion design is matured.

Explores and evaluates 11 novels and 2 nonfiction books for young adults that explore the issues surrounding abortion. Notes the conspicuous absence of young adult literature dealing with this tough emotional and controversial issue. (SR)

... states have enacted bans on procedures called “partial-birth” abortions, with 14 state laws (GA, IN, KS, LA, MS, MT, NM, ND, OH, OK, SC, SD, TN, UT) in effect. All include an exception to the ban: four ...

The first flight test of the Orion Abort Flight Test project is scheduled to launch in Spring 2010. This flight test is known as Pad Abort 1 (PA-1) and it is intended to accomplish a series of flight test objectives, including demonstrating the capability of the Launch Abort System (LAS) to propel the Crew Module (CM) to a safe distance from a launch vehicle during a pad abort. The PA-1 Flight Test Article (FTA) is actively controlled by a guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) system for much of its flight. The purpose of this paper is to describe the design, development, and analysis of the PA-1 GN&C system. A description of the technical solutions that were developed to meet the challenge of satisfying many competing requirements is presented. A historical perspective of how the Orion LAV compares to the Apollo Launch Escape Vehicle (LEV) design will also be included.

The spectrum of antibodies to reproductive hormones and the diagnostic significance of their measurements in threatened abortion during trimester I were studied. Enhanced production of antibodies to hormones was detected by ELISA in patients with threatened abortion (N=44) in comparison with women with normal gestation (N=30). These antibodies were detected more often than antiphospholipid antibodies (p<0.05). Antibodies to chorionic gonadotropin (IgM, IgG) and gonadotropin-releasing hormone (IgG) were associated with threatened abortion. According to ROC analysis, their measurements were diagnostically significant in this pathology (AUC>0.8). Subclasses IgG1 and IgG2 predominated among IgG to chorionic gonadotropin. Presumably, antibodies to chorionic gonadotropin and gonadotropin-releasing hormone could serve as independent factors of threatened abortion risk during trimester I. PMID:25348563

Background Medical abortion is legal in South Africa but access and acceptability are hampered by the current protocol requiring a follow-up visit to assess abortion completion. Objective To assess the feasibility and efficacy of information and follow-up provided via mobile phone after medical abortion in a randomized controlled trial (RCT). Methods Mobile phones were used in three ways in the study: (1) coaching women through medical abortion using short message service (SMS; text messages); (2) a questionnaire to assess abortion completion via unstructured supplementary service data (USSD, a protocol used by GSM mobile telephones that allows the user to interact with a server via text-based menus) and the South African mobile instant message and social networking application Mxit; and (3) family planning information via SMS, mobisite and Mxit. A needs and context assessment was done to learn about women’s experiences undergoing medical abortion and their use of mobile phones. After development, the mobile interventions were piloted. Recruitment was done by field workers at the clinics. In the RCT, women were interviewed at baseline and exit. Computer logs were also analyzed. All study participants received standard of care at the clinics. Results In the RCT, 234 women were randomized to the intervention group. Eight did not receive the intervention due to invalid numbers, mis-registration, system failure, or opt-out, leaving 226 participants receiving the full intervention. Of the 226, 190 returned and were interviewed at their clinic follow-up visit. The SMSs were highly acceptable, with 97.9% (186/190) saying that the SMSs helped them through the medical abortion. In terms of mobile phone privacy, 86.3% (202/234) said that it was not likely or possible that someone would see SMSs on their phone, although at exit, 20% (38/190) indicated that they had worried about phone privacy. Having been given training at baseline and subsequently asked via SMS to complete the self-assessment questionnaire, 90.3% (204/226) attempted it, and of those, 86.3% (176/204) reached an endpoint of the questionnaire. For the family planning information, a preference for SMS was indicated by study clients, although the publicly available Mxit/mobisite was heavily used (813,375 pages were viewed) over the study duration. Conclusions SMS provided a good medium for timed, "push" information that guided and supported women through medical abortion. Women were able to perform a self-assessment questionnaire via mobile phones if provided training and prompted by SMS. Phone privacy needs to be protected in similar settings. This study may contribute to the successful expansion of medical abortion provision aided by mobile phones. Trial Registration Pan African Clinical Trials Registry (PACTR): PACTR201302000427144; http://www.pactr.org/ATMWeb/appmanager/atm/atmregistry?dar=true&tNo=PACTR201302000427144 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6N0fnZfzm). PMID:25098569

The legal status of college students in relationship to the institution they attend is discussed, focusing on the contractual relationship, due process, access to education, First Amendment rights, search and seizure, federal aid regulation, residency requirements for voting, and the doctrine of academic abstention in legal matters. (MSE)

The objectives of the present clinical study were to evaluate the safety and efficacy of misoprostol (Cytotec) self-administered into the vagina for medical abortion in adolescents under the age of 18 years. After obtaining written consent from the patients and parents or guardians, a group of 150 adolescents with gestations between 35 and 63 days received 800 microg of vaginal misoprostol every 24 h, up to a maximum of three main doses, for abortion. Outcomes assessed included successful abortion (complete abortion without surgery), side-effects, decrease in hemoglobin, mean time of vaginal bleeding, mean expulsion time and mean time for the return of menses. Complete abortion occurred in 133/150 (88.7%, 95% confidence interval 82-93) patients. The frequencies of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea were statistically significantly higher when compared to those obtained for adult females. Vaginal bleeding lasted for 12.7 +/- 5.7 days (median 12 days, range 1-23 days). The mean expulsion time was 6.8 +/- 2.4 h (median 6 h, range 3-14 h) for those who aborted after the first misoprostol dose. The mean time for the return of menses, for those who aborted with misoprostol, was 34.7 +/- 3.4 days. The mean decrease in hemoglobin was statistically significant (p = 0.001), but had no clinical relevance. Taking into account the high abortion rate obtained, we could conclude that misoprostol alone is a valid method for terminating unwanted pregnancies in adolescents under the age of 18 years. PMID:11245549

The state of Texas began enforcement of the Woman’s Right to Know (WRTK) Act on January 1, 2004. The law requires that all abortions at 16 weeks gestation or later be performed in an ambulatory surgical center (ASC). In the month the law went into effect, not one of Texas’s 54 non-hospital abortion providers met the requirements of a surgical

This study examines the contextual and ideological dimensions of attitudes toward discretionary abortion using two national\\u000a surveys. The abortion attitudes are dichotomized in terms of consistent opposition versus consistent support. Discriminant\\u000a analysis, partial correlations, and stepwise regression procedures are used in the analysis. Findings indicate that education\\u000a and attendance at religious services are the two most significant contextual dimensions and

The author argues that, if women have the right of self-determination, it is immoral of society to withhold or limit women's access to abortion services in Nigeria. Morality must pertain to society as well as women. In Nigeria, the abortion argument tends to focus on the rights of the fetus or the third party's interest. The abortion issue must involve understanding the rationale that is used by abortion-seeking women. Denial of access to abortion services dehumanizes women and reduces growth in national development. Women carry the burden of responsibility associated with child bearing and rearing. Unwanted pregnancies impose severe psychological, physical, social, and medical dangers on women. Impaired psychological and physical illness creates pain and suffering and limits productivity. "Doing good" is not necessarily accomplished by either abortion or unwanted childbearing. Society both discourages the taking of a human life and supports the health of its citizens, many of whom are women. A child brought into this world who is not adequately taken care of will be a burden to society. When society pursues its own self-interest in preventing abortion as a choice for women, then society becomes immoral and selfish. A woman pursuing her own self-interest is not necessarily immoral. The decision becomes immoral if the woman acts against the wishes of the father. Morality is not necessarily the opposite of the promotion of one's self-interest. Women who seek to terminate a pregnancy for health reasons seek a virtuous option of enhancing the well-being of every individual in society. The right to life for the fetus is very different from the right to self-determination for the abortion-seeking woman. When the Yoruba define a wife as a servant to the husband, the Yoruba deny women personhood. Women know best what serves their self-interest and that of society. PMID:12292664

Don Marquis (1989) has argued most abortions are immoral, for the same reason that killing you or me is immoral: abortion deprives the fetus\\u000a of a valuable future (FLO). Call this account the FLOA. A rival account is Jeff McMahan’s (2002), time-relative interest account (TRIA) of the wrongness of killing. According to this account, an act of killing is wrong

Recently, two authors suggested that killing a healthy newborn might be morally permissible, subsuming it under the heading of 'after birth abortion'. Their proposed new definition implies that infanticide should be permitted whenever II trimester abortion for social reasons is. The suggestion stirred public outcry; nonetheless it needs to be analyzed since some 20% of countries allow II trimester abortion for social reasons and 5% do this on demand. A proper delimitation of the definition of "abortion" is thus very important to ensure careful application; for this reason we have attempted a critical analysis of their arguments. In the area of pregnancy termination different moral standards are apparently applied in different countries, but many reasons exist why the equation between II trimester abortion for social reasons and the killing of healthy neonates is to be morally rejected in all cases. The "inversed reification" of the concept of infanticide as a more abstract, euphemistic 'after birth abortion' blurs the fundamental difference between a non-viable fetus and a viable neonate. The best-known and most widely utilized (although illegal) "social reason" for "late abortion" and "infanticide" is a pregnancy with a female fetus or neonate. If infanticide for neonates were to be considered morally permissible, specifically it is this practice that would be applied. And this should be rejected on two levels: conceptual, through a critique of the exclusive use of one specific notion of personhood, and pragmatic through refusal of gender-discriminatory forms of infanticide (the killing of female neonates). In conclusion, having investigated the new concept we have concluded that the term "after birth abortion" is biologically and conceptually nonsensical. PMID:23495749

An outbreak of abortion affecting multiparous cows was associated with Hobi-like pestivirus infection. Viral RNA and antigens were detected in the tissues of two aborted fetuses. Molecular assays for other common abortogenic agents tested negative. At the genetic level, the Hobi-like pestivirus displayed the closest relatedness to Italian, Australian, and South American viruses, whereas it diverged from the prototype Thai isolate. These findings may have important implications for the pestivirus control/eradication programs in cattle herds. PMID:22162547

This paper discusses the ground and flight operations aspects to the Pad Abort 1 launch. The paper details the processes used to plan all operations. The paper then discussions the difficulties of integration and testing, while detailing some of the lessons learned throughout the entire launch campaign. Flight operational aspects of the launc are covered in order to provide the listener with the full suite of operational issues encountered in preparation for the first flight test of the Orion Launch Abort System.

:This paper highlights some of the personal, cultural, and philosophical challenges facing pro-choice feminists who miscarry in the United States. In light of the acrimonious debate over abortion, and the pressure to assign moral personhood to the beings lost in miscarriage, I offer suggestions for how we might mourn our losses without solidifying pro-life\\/anti-abortion politics. I outline a relational model

This paper highlights some of the personal, cultural, and philosophical challenges facing pro-choice feminists who miscarry in the United States. In light of the acrimonious debate over abortion, and the pressure to assign moral personhood to the beings lost in miscarriage, I offer suggestions for how we might mourn our losses without solidifying pro-life\\/anti-abortion politics. I outline a relational model

The US federal research regulations prohibit informed consent, whether written or oral, from including provisions in which human subjects waive or appear to waive legal rights. We argue that policies that prevent human subjects from waiving legal rights in research can be ethically justified under the rationale of group, soft paternalism. These policies protect competent adults from making adverse decisions about health and legal matters that they may not understand fully. However,this rationale is less defensible if there is a comprehensive compensation for injury programme available in which subjects are asked to waive some legal rights in order to participate in the programme. In this situation, subjects should be allowed to waive some legal rights to obtain the benefits of the programme. PMID:23893867

This paper analyses legal research within the context of legal education in Africa, it examines some of the challenges of electronic legal research in view of the influences of online legal electronic resources and Computer Assisted legal Research (CALR) and the importance of information literacy in addressing some of the issues raised especially with regards to undergraduate legal education.

linguistic methodology of legal positivism. In their stead, this dissertation adopts a pragmatic methodology that develops a standard for legal validity based on actual legal experience. This approach focuses on the operations of law and its effects upon...

\\u000a This article focuses on privacy risk assessment from a legal perspective. We focus on how to estimate legal privacy risk with\\u000a legal norms instead of quantitative values. We explain the role of normative values in legal risk assessment and introduce\\u000a a specification for legal privacy risk using a modal language. We examine the difference between legal privacy risk assessment\\u000a and

In the US, a new antiabortion strategy of using legislative and judicial forums to change the rhetoric of abortion rather than using abortion rhetoric to change the law arose out of disappointment when the 1992 Casey decision failed to overturn Roe. This new approach is crystallized by the 1995 introduction of federal legislation (vetoed by the President) to ban so-called "partial-birth" abortions. Opponents to this late-term procedure undertaken to preserve a women's life or health distinguish intact dilatation and extraction from induced labor to terminate a nonviable pregnancy (failing to recognize the lack of ethical difference) and make inaccurate political statements linking the abortion procedure to infanticide. When the ban was reintroduced to Congress in 1997, the previously silent American Medical Association agreed to support the bill if two "physician-friendly" amendments were added, but the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists made it clear that it is "inappropriate, ill advised, and dangerous" for legislative bodies to intervene into medical decision-making. The new version of the bill shifted the focus to all abortions after viability unless they are necessary to protect the mother from grievous harm to her physical (not mental) health, thus limiting the reach of the Roe decision. Clinton vetoed this bill also. Such legislation would be unlikely to prevent even one abortion, and its importance rests in its view of the proper role of government in regulating health care. This follows previous efforts to reframe the abortion debate by creating a dichotomy that marginalizes either women or fetuses and shifts the focus to another issue. PMID:9673308

... impossible, to take care of important legal and financial transactions when a loved one is incapacitated. Never rely on a pre-packaged trust bought on the internet or in a commercial publication. To protect yourself, ...

A group of 36 patients who had had at least two consecutive spontaneous abortions and who desired to have children was subjected to a psychosomatic investigation before a biomedical diagnostic screening programme was started. A semi-structured interview regarding sociodemographic data, current relationship, social support, education, occupation and medical anamnesis was carried out. In addition, all women completed four standardized questionnaires on the topics of anxiety, somatization disorder, life satisfaction and depression. A control group of 36 women, matched for age and occupation, was subjected to the same psychosomatic investigation. The findings of the diagnostic screening programme showed that 16 women had abortions because of physical abnormality, and 15 women had no physically confirmed cause (in five women, the investigations were not completed). Following recurrent spontaneous abortion, 18 women had a successful pregnancy within 2 years, and 18 women were still childless. The comparison between patients and the control group revealed that patients with recurrent abortion were significantly more satisfied with their life quality regarding leisure time, financial situation and occupation. No significant differences were observed in any other variables. Patients who suffered spontaneous abortions due to a physical disorder showed partner relationship of longer duration, and more frequent miscarriages. Women with successful pregnancy within 2 years after recurrent miscarriage were significantly younger and had fewer physically related abortions compared with women who remained childless. In summary, psychological factors seem to be of subordinate importance as a cause for recurrent spontaneous abortion. Moreover, physical abnormalities in the reproductive system have a predominant impact on the prediction of a future successful pregnancy. PMID:9194676

Diploid cells (WI-38, MRC-5) vaccines have their origin in induced abortions. Among these vaccines we fi nd the following: rubella, measles, mumps, rabies, polio, smallpox, hepatitis A, chickenpox, and herpes zoster. Nowadays, other abortion tainted vaccines cultivated on transformed cells (293, PER.C6) are in the pipeline: flu, Respiratory Syncytial and parainfluenza viruses, HIV, West Nile virus, Ebola, Marburg and Lassa, hepatitis B and C, foot and mouth disease, Japanese encephalitis, dengue, tuberculosis, anthrax, plague, tetanus and malaria. The same method is used for the production of monoclonal antibodies and other proteins, gene therapy and genomics. Technology enables us to develop the aforementioned products without resorting to induced abortion. Full disclosure of the cell origin in the labelling of vaccines and other products must be supported. There are vaccines from non-objectionable sources which should be made available to the public. When no alternative vaccines exist, ethical research must be promoted. Non-objectionable sources in the production of monoclonal antibodies, gene therapy and genomics must be encouraged. It is not be consistent to abstain from products originated in embryonic stem cells and at the same time approve of products obtained from induced abortions. It is of paramount importance to avoid that induced abortion technology seeps into every field of Medicine. PMID:18611078

This paper does not attempt to deal with the legitimate ethical or moral debate on abortion. Utilizing abortion as a subject I will show how science and medicine in general, and abortion in particular, were used as weapons of mass destruction by Nazi physicians in their zeal to comply with the political climate of the time. Nazi policy on abortion and childbirth was just one of the methods devised and designed to ensure the extermination of those whom the Nazis deemed had "lives not worth living." Physicians implemented these policies, not with the fate of their patients in mind, but rather in the name of the "state." When discussing pregnancy, abortion and childbirth during the Holocaust it is imperative to include an essay of how these issues affected the Jewish prisoner doctors in the ghettos and camps. Nazi policy dictated their actions too. From an extensive search of their testimonies, I conclude that for these doctors ethical discourse comprised a fundamental component of their functioning. I do not propose to judge them in any way and one should not, in my opinion, argue whether their behavior was or was not morally acceptable under such duress; nevertheless, unlike their Nazi counterparts, a key theme in their testimonies was to "keep their medical values." PMID:17402341

The medical records of 2055 patients undergoing late abortions were reviewed. These represented 15% of all abortions induced over 10 years. In 52%, abortion was performed between 13-16 weeks, and in 25% at or after 20 weeks. Abortion was requested for risk to health in 55% and for failed contraception in 40%. Surgical techniques were used in 39%. There was a trend to use vaginal surgical procedures increasingly, and intraamniotic saline decreasingly. Extraamniotic ethacridine lactate was used in 12%. Because of the cost, prostaglandin infusions were restricted to 2.5%. Planned evacuation of retained products following a medical procedure was performed in 71%; concomitant sterilization in 24%. The complication rate settled at 11% of which 4% were retained products of conception. Complications increased overall with advancing gestational age, and particularly from 15 weeks onward with vacuum aspiration (p0.05) and with dilatation and curettage (p0.05). Cervical injury increased with advancing gestation (p=0.01). In developing nations, there is a pressing need to educate illiterate women to request abortion earlier. PMID:12283425

Objectives To describe the prevalence and pattern of traumatic experiences, to assess the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), to identify risk factors for PTSD and PTSS, and to analyse the association of PTSD and PTSS with concomitant anxiety and depressive symptoms in women requesting induced abortion. Methods A Swedish multi-centre study of women requesting an induced abortion. The Screen Questionnaire – Posttraumatic Stress Disorder was used for research diagnoses of PTSD and PTSS. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were evaluated by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Results Of the 1514 respondents, almost half reported traumatic experiences. Lifetime- and point prevalence of PTSD were 7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 5.8–8.5) and 4% (95% CI: 3.1–5.2), respectively. The prevalence of PTSS was 23% (95% CI: 21.1–25.4). Women who reported symptoms of anxiety or depression when requesting abortion were more likely to have ongoing PTSD or PTSS. Also single-living women and smokers displayed higher rates of ongoing PTSD. Conclusions Although PTSD is rare among women who request an induced abortion, a relatively high proportion suffers from PTSS. Abortion seeking women with trauma experiences and existing or preexisting mental disorders need more consideration and alertness when counselled for termination. PMID:23978220

Selective embryo abortion is one of the evolutionary explanations for the surplus of ovules found in many plant species. To manipulate the level of embryo abortion, we removed ovules and applied nutrients to plants of Cynoglossum officinale (Boraginaceae) after they started to flower. From these two treatments and a control series, seeds were collected, germinated, and transplanted in the field to assess the quality of the resulting offspring. Nutrient addition did not increase the number of seeds per flower significantly. Fewer embryos were aborted in the ovule removal treatment. The seeds produced in the ovule removal treatment had a significantly greater mass and significantly lower survival than the offspring from the control group. This difference in survival indicates that offspring of lower quality are selectively aborted in the control group. Offspring from the nutrient addition treatment survived longer. The offspring of the treatments did not differ significantly from the control group in growth. Simple mathematical calculations, based on the differences in offspring quality that we found, indicate that the selective abortion hypothesis can be an important factor explaining the advantage of the "surplus production" of ovules. PMID:11410467

Chromosomal heteromorphism is considered a variant of a normal karyotype, but it is more frequent in couples with repeated miscarriages. We investigated chromosomal heteromorphism in couples with repeated miscarriages in comparison with a control group. A total of 455 couples who applied to our genetic diagnosis laboratory in Diyarbakir, Turkey, were evaluated for chromosome heteromorphisms; 221 of these couples (the study group) had recurrent abortions and 234 of them (the control group) had no history of abortions and had at least one living child. The patient group of couples with recurrent abortions were found to have a significantly higher rate of chromosome heteromorphism (8.4%) in comparison with the control group (4.9%). When the patients were evaluated according to gender, males had a significantly higher rate of chromosome heteromorphism (11.3%) than females (5.4%). We conclude that since couples with recurrent abortion and males have higher rate of chromosome heteromorphism, cases of heteromorphism should not be disregarded in the etiological investigation of recurrent abortions. Further research should be done to investigate the phenotypic effects of chromosome heteromorphism. PMID:23212323

Globally, abortion mortality accounts for at least 13% of all maternal mortality. Unsafe abortion procedures, untrained abortion providers, restrictive abortion laws and high mortality and morbidity from abortion tend to occur together. Preventing mortality and morbidity from abortion in countries where these remain high is a matter of good public health policy and medical practice, and constitutes an important part of safe motherhood initiatives. This article examines the changes in policy and health service provision required to make abortions safe. It is based on a wide-ranging review of published and unpublished sources. In order to be effective, public health measures must take into account the reasons why women have abortions, the kind of abortion services required and at what stages of pregnancy, the types of abortion service providers needed, and training, cost and counselling issues. The transition from unsafe to safe abortions demands the following: changes at national policy level; abortion training for service providers and the provision of services at the appropriate primary level health service delivery points; and ensuring that women access these services instead of those of untrained providers. Public awareness that abortion services are available is a crucial element of this transition, particularly among adolescent and single women, who tend to have less access to reproductive health services generally. PMID:10859852

Objective Approximately 18% of maternal deaths in East Africa is attributable to unsafe abortion. Availability of comprehensive abortion care (CAC) services at all levels of the healthcare system, including medical abortion, has the potential to increase access to safe abortion thereby reducing the burden of unsafe abortion. This study sought to assess trends in abortion-related morbidity indicators in referral hospitals. Design Researchers conducted a secondary data analysis on retrospectively collected data. Methods Data analysed were collected from four hospitals in the Tigray region of Ethiopia that took part in a CAC pilot project. Providers were trained in mid-2009 to provide abortion services using all available technologies. Data records from hospitals were collected in 2012 for the years 2006 through 2012; 2006/2007 data were too sparse to include in the analyses. Results Trends in abortion-related services show a significant decrease in treatment of incomplete abortion, inverting the relationship between safe terminations and treatment of incompletes as a percentage of total abortions. Medication abortion was nearly non-existent in 2008, but increased steadily, representing 80% of total procedures in 2012. The inclusion of medication abortion and availability of CAC also contributed to a decline in inpatient procedures and prevalence of complications. Conclusions The trends observed in the data demonstrate how increased availability of CAC services at all levels of the healthcare system, among other factors, can contribute to reductions in the burden of unsafe abortion at referral hospitals. PMID:23883881

The primary aim of this study was to compare the experience of an early abortion (1st trimester) to a late abortion (2nd and 3rd trimester) relative to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms after controlling for socio-demographic and personal history variables. Online surveys were completed by 374 women who experienced either a 1st trimester abortion (up to 12 weeks gestation) or a 2nd or 3rd trimester abortion (13 weeks gestation or beyond). Most respondents (81%) were U.S. citizens. Later abortions were associated with higher Intrusion subscale scores and with a greater likelihood of reporting disturbing dreams, reliving of the abortion, and trouble falling asleep. Reporting the pregnancy was desired by one's partner, experiencing pressure to abort, having left the partner prior to the abortion, not disclosing the abortion to the partner, and physical health concerns were more common among women who received later abortions. Social reasons for the abortion were linked with significantly higher PTSD total and subscale scores for the full sample. Women who postpone their abortions may need more active professional intervention before securing an abortion based on the increased risks identified herein. More research with diverse samples employing additional measures of mental illness is needed. PMID:21490737

The primary aim of this study was to compare the experience of an early abortion (1st trimester) to a late abortion (2nd and 3rd trimester) relative to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms after controlling for socio-demographic and personal history variables. Online surveys were completed by 374 women who experienced either a 1st trimester abortion (up to 12 weeks gestation) or a 2nd or 3rd trimester abortion (13 weeks gestation or beyond). Most respondents (81%) were U.S. citizens. Later abortions were associated with higher Intrusion subscale scores and with a greater likelihood of reporting disturbing dreams, reliving of the abortion, and trouble falling asleep. Reporting the pregnancy was desired by one's partner, experiencing pressure to abort, having left the partner prior to the abortion, not disclosing the abortion to the partner, and physical health concerns were more common among women who received later abortions. Social reasons for the abortion were linked with significantly higher PTSD total and subscale scores for the full sample. Women who postpone their abortions may need more active professional intervention before securing an abortion based on the increased risks identified herein. More research with diverse samples employing additional measures of mental illness is needed. PMID:21490737

One of the most serious impediments to the development of high quality education in the United States is excessive legalism. This legalism takes two forms: administrative legalism is the trend toward ritualistic conformity to increasingly detailed, bureaucratic rules and regulations; judicial legalism is the tendency to cast all social issues and…

The objective of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice of private medical practitioners in Enugu, South-eastern Nigeria, on abortion and post-abortion care. It was a cross-sectional study of private medical practitioners in the study area using self-administered structured questionnaires. The results showed that 32.3% of the doctors terminate unwanted pregnancies when requested to do so. The majority of them (51.6%) use D&C in combination with manual vacuum aspiration for the termination of pregnancies in the first trimester. A total of 61 (63.5%) respondents offered various types of post-abortal care (PAC) services, while 42 (43.8%) of them screened women with abortion complications for sexually transmitted infections. For the doctors who do not terminate unwanted pregnancies, their main reasons were religious and moral considerations rather than obedience to the Nigerian abortion laws. We conclude that the majority of private medical practitioners in Enugu, South-eastern Nigeria, do not terminate unwanted pregnancies because of their religious beliefs. PMID:19603321

Estrogen plays a crucial role in fetal and placental development through estrogen receptors. Association of estrogen receptor alpha gene (ESR1) polymorphisms with spontaneous abortion has been shown in some studies. Our main goal was to study the potential association of spontaneous abortion with the ESR1 gene variations (PvuII and XbaI) in fetal tissue. Totally, 161 samples were recruited including 80 samples of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded fetal tissue from spontaneous abortion and 81 samples of normal term placental tissue. The restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method was performed for genotyping the rs2234693 (A/G XbaI) and rs9340799 (T/C PvuII) single nucleotide polymorphisms located in intron 1 of ESR1. The results have been confirmed by DNA sequencing analysis. The different genotypes distribution was detected in two study groups. Haplotype analysis indicated that ppxx is protective genotype against spontaneous abortion (P = 0.01). In conclusion, the potential role of ESR1 genetic variation in spontaneous abortion might be valuable in high-risk subjects, and that needs to be confirmed with future studies. PMID:24228243

Between 1972 and 1987 a total of 417 patients at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Görlitz Hospital, changed their minds about an abortion after discussion with their doctor (average 5%, 1977 11.8%). A random survey (n = 176) was analysed, bearing in mind the medical and social aspects as well as the main reason for the planned abortion. It was established that the duration of pregnancy and birth in women who had changed the duration of pregnancy and birth in women who had changed their minds about an abortion did not differ from that of women who had not considered termination. However, a higher level of social care was needed. PMID:2038904

Abortions, accompanied by placental retention and weight loss, occurred during February and March in 19% of 120 and 10% of 108 beef cows and heifers on two neighboring ranches in southern Saskatchewan. A diagnosis of Campylobacter jejuni abortion was made based on lesions of necrotizing and suppurative placentitis and fetal bronchopneumonia in association with the culture of large numbers of C. jejuni from placentas and fetal tissues. Campylobacter jejuni was isolated with variable frequency from fecal samples of aborting and healthy cows, and scouring and healthy calves. Campylobacter jejuni serotype 2 (Lior) was isolated from fetal tissues and feces of a scouring calf, whereas C. jejuni serotypes 1, 4, 5 and 99 were isolated from feces of in-contact cattle. We hypothesized that the source and mode of transmission of C. jejuni was fecal contamination of water supplies and feeding grounds by carrier cows or wildlife. PMID:17423586

A majority of the unsafe abortions are performed by untrained birth attendants or quacks leading to complications in a large proportion of these cases. Complications like bowel injury, bladder injury, uterine perforation, and septic abortion are mostly caused by unskilled hands and are detected immediately or within few days of the procedure, owing to the need for tertiary level care. Here we present a very interesting case of unsafe abortion induced by a Ryle's tube in a 32-year-old lady, which was diagnosed five years after the procedure. Considering its atypical presentation, it is the first case of its kind in the literature. The details of the case and its management are described along with appropriate pictures. PMID:24649386

This paper covers the simulation and evaluation of a controller design for the Crew Module (CM) Launch Abort System (LAS), to measure its ability to meet the abort performance requirements. The controller used in this study is a hybrid design, including features developed by the Government and the Contractor. Testing is done using two separate 6-degree-of-freedom (DOF) computer simulation implementations of the LAS/CM throughout the ascent trajectory: 1) executing a series of abort simulations along a nominal trajectory for the nominal LAS/CM system; and 2) using a series of Monte Carlo runs with perturbed initial flight conditions and perturbed system parameters. The performance of the controller is evaluated against a set of criteria, which is based upon the current functional requirements of the LAS. Preliminary analysis indicates that the performance of the present controller meets (with the exception of a few cases) the evaluation criteria mentioned above.

The Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle is the first crewed capsule design to be developed by NASA since Project Apollo. Unlike Apollo, however, the CEV is being designed for service in both Lunar and International Space Station missions. Ascent aborts pose some issues that were not present for Apollo, due to its launch azimuth, nor Space Shuttle, due to its cross range capability. The requirement that a North Atlantic splashdown following an abort be avoidable, in conjunction with the requirement for overlapping abort modes to maximize crew survivability, drives the thrust level of the service module main engine. This paper summarizes 3DOF analysis conducted by NASA to aid in the determination of the appropriate propulsion system for the service module, and the appropriate propellant loading for ISS missions such that crew survivability is maximized.

The Commission's selection of poor quality data in reaching its conclusion in the chapter "Consequences of Abortion Refused," that being an unwanted child is not necessarily disadvantageous is criticized. The Commission cited as evidence a newspaper article with questionable statistics and an unpublished study by Lenoski which said 99.1% of child abusers wanted their children, while only 63% of the nonabusers did. The prime criterion was the month in which the mother began using maternity clothes. Also, a quote from Helfer in 1968 is used, which the author failed to find and which seems to contradict Helfer's latest study (1976) which says infants born to mothers who were refused abortion are at risk of child abuse. Strangely, a 21-year and a 10-year follow-up on children born after mothers were refused abortion were not used in the final version of the chapter, though they were discussed at the hearings. PMID:272544

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration created the Constellation program to develop the next generation of manned space vehicles and launch vehicles. The Orion abort system is initiated in the event of an unsafe condition during launch. The system has a controller gains schedule that can be tuned to reduce the attitude errors between the simulated Orion abort trajectories and the guidance trajectory. A program was created that uses the method of steepest descent to tune the pitch gains schedule by an automated procedure. The gains schedule optimization was applied to three potential abort scenarios; each scenario tested using the optimized gains schedule resulted in reduced attitude errors when compared to the Orion production gains schedule.

Second trimester abortion remains a common procedure worldwide. Dilatation and evacuation (D&E) is the surgical method of choice, if the surgical expertise and facilities are available. Adequate cervical dilatation preoperatively is a prerequisite for a safe D&E. Medical abortion using misoprostol together with mifepristone is the medical method of choice. The recommended regimen is 200mg mifepristone followed by 800 microg of vaginal misoprostol 36-48 h later. Subsequent doses of 400 microg of misoprostol can be given orally every 3h up to a maximum of four more doses. Proper preoperative assessment would not only help to provide safe abortion treatment, but it also guides the choice of method. If the expertise and facilities of both methods are available, both methods should be discussed and offered to the patient so that the patient can make an informed choice. PMID:20347397

This study investigated a potential Launch Abort System (LAS) Concept of Operations and abort parachute architecture. The purpose of the study was to look at the concept of jettisoning the LAS tower forward (Reverse LAS or RLAS) into the free-stream flow rather than after reorienting to a heatshield forward orientation. A hypothesized benefit was that due to the compressed timeline the dynamic pressure at main line stretch would be substantially less. This would enable the entry parachutes to be designed and sized based on entry loading conditions rather than the current stressing case of a Pad Abort. Ultimately, concerns about the highly dynamic reorientation of the CM via parachutes, and the additional requirement of a triple bridle attachment for the RLAS parachute system, overshadowed the potential benefits and ended this effort.

Background Internet search patterns have emerged as a novel data source for monitoring infectious disease trends. We propose that these data can also be used more broadly to study the impact of health policies across different regions in a more efficient and timely manner. Methods As a test use case, we studied the relationships between abortion-related search volume, local abortion rates, and local abortion policies available for study. Results Our initial integrative analysis found that, both in the US and internationally, the volume of Internet searches for abortion is inversely proportional to local abortion rates and directly proportional to local restrictions on abortion. Conclusion These findings are consistent with published evidence that local restrictions on abortion lead individuals to seek abortion services outside of their area. Further validation of these methods has the potential to produce a timely, complementary data source for studying the effects of health policies. PMID:20738850

Finding Secure Curves with the Satoh-FGH Algorithm and an Early-Abort Strategy Mireille Fouquet 1 and an early-abort strategy based on SEA, we are able to #12;nd secure random curves in characteristic two

Abortive HIV Infection Mediates CD4 T-Cell Depletion and Inflammation in Human Lymphoid Tissue correspond to bystander cells. We now show that the death of these "bystander" cells involves abortive HIV

Voting 192-225 on May 14, the House defeated an effort to reverse the current prohibition on privately funded abortions at military facilities except in cases of life endangerment, rape, or incest. Introduced by pro-choice Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Jane Harman (D-CA), and Mike Ward (D-KY) and mixed record Representative Peter Torkildsen (R-MA), the amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (HR 3230) would have repealed restrictive language in the statute that governs the Department of Defense (DOD). Floor action on the provision of non-government-funded abortions mirrored Representative DeLauro's failed attempts to strike the onerous provision during the mark-up process for HR 3230, which received final House approval in a 272-153 vote on May 15. The House National Security Committee voted 26-20 against removing the abortion restriction on May 1, six days after a similar 11-5 vote by the Subcommittee on Military Personnel. The near ban on abortion services has been in effect since December of last year, when the DOD spending bill was implemented; President Clinton signed the legislation permanently encoding the restriction into law in February (see RFN IV/22, V/3-4). Upon taking office in January 1993, President Clinton had issued an executive memorandum directing the Secretary of Defense to reverse the ban on the performance of non-lifesaving, privately funded abortions at military facilities, which had been instituted through agency action in mid-1988 (see RFN II/3, IV/13). The DOD authorization statute has prohibited the use of federal funds for abortions except in cases of life endangerment for more than a decade. PMID:12320215

We argue that the abortion controversy has one major source--religion--and two less important ones--attitudes towards sexual permissiveness and women's employment. Traditional Christianity promotes opposition to abortion using three distinct modes of moral reasoning: through deductive moral reasoning, by the Christian world view's implication that abortion violates the sanctity of life and is a rebellion against God's design; through authoritative moral reasoning by appeal to Catholic dogma; and through consequentialist moral reasoning, as a means of control over sexuality and as a means of confining women's activities to the home. Even aside from Christian belief, adherence to traditional morality promotes opposition to abortion on these consequentialist grounds. We posit a model in which religious belief, anti-feminism, sexual permissiveness, and attitudes towards abortion are distinct concepts (a four-factor model) rather than all simply aspects of a single conservatism factor. We develop reliable, multiple item attitude scales; show that our four-factor model fits the data much better than the one-factor alternative; and test our hypotheses on new data from a large, representative national sample of Australia (N = 4540). Using maximum likelihood structural equation methods, we find that deductive reasoning from Christian belief is the most important source of opposition to abortion, with strong effects both direct and indirect. Exposure to the authority of the Catholic hierarchy is a real but weaker source of opposition. Consequentialist reasoning from traditional moral views on sex--partly buttressed by religion, partly independent of it--is also influential. But views on women's employment matter only a little, contrary to received wisdom. PMID:8306141

For the last 30 years, the United States's human space program has been focused on low Earth orbit exploration and operations with the Space Shuttle and International Space Station programs. After nearly 50 years, the U.S. is again working to return humans beyond Earth orbit. To do so, NASA is developing a new launch vehicle and spacecraft to provide this capability. The launch vehicle is referred to as the Space Launch System (SLS) and the spacecraft is called Orion. The new launch system is being developed with an abort system that will enable the crew to escape launch failures that would otherwise be catastrophic as well as probabilistic design requirements set for probability of loss of crew (LOC) and loss of mission (LOM). In order to optimize the risk associated with designing this new launch system, as well as verifying the associated requirements, NASA has developed a comprehensive Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) of the integrated ascent phase of the mission that includes the launch vehicle, spacecraft and ground launch facilities. Given the dynamic nature of rocket launches and the potential for things to go wrong, developing a PRA to assess the risk can be a very challenging effort. Prior to launch and after the crew has boarded the spacecraft, the risk exposure time can be on the order of three hours. During this time, events may initiate from either of the spacecraft, the launch vehicle, or the ground systems, thus requiring an emergency egress from the spacecraft to a safe ground location or a pad abort via the spacecraft's launch abort system. Following launch, again either the spacecraft or the launch vehicle can initiate the need for the crew to abort the mission and return to the home. Obviously, there are thousands of scenarios whose outcome depends on when the abort is initiated during ascent as to how the abort is performed. This includes modeling the risk associated with explosions and benign system failures that require aborting a spacecraft under very dynamic conditions, particularly in the lower atmosphere, and returning the crew home safely. This paper will provide an overview of the PRA model that has been developed of this new launch system, including some of the challenges that are associated with this effort. Key Words: PRA, space launches, human space program, ascent abort, spacecraft, launch vehicles

We evaluated the use of curettage in second trimester medical induced abortions retrospectively in 186 women at Herning Hospital, Denmark. Curettage was carried out in a total of 55% of the women. The incidence of curettage was associated with low gestational age (r?=?0.32, p?0.001) but not with age, parity, and BMI. The average incidence of curettage dropped from 62% to 25% at the time before 2007 compared with the time after 2007 (p?0.001). The indications for abortion were not associated with subsequent use of curettage. PMID:25200978

During the 2002 and 2003 foaling seasons, Cellulosimicrobium (Cellumonas) cellulans (formerly Oerskovia xanthineolytica) was the principal microorganism isolated from fetal tissues or placentas from cases of equine abortion, premature birth, and term pregnancies. Significant pathologic findings included chronic placentitis and pyogranulomatous pneumonia. In addition, microscopic and macroscopic alterations in the allantochorion from 4 of 7 cases of placentitis were similar to those caused by Crossiella equi and other nocardioform bacteria. This report confirms a causative role of C. cellulans infection in equine abortion. PMID:15305747

A register based study was conducted on the pregnancy outcome of female workers in eight Finnish pharmaceutical factories to determine whether they had a higher risk of spontaneous abortion than the general population or matched controls. Information about all female workers who had been employed in the factories during the years 1973 or 1975 (four factories) to 1980 was obtained from the employers. The workers' pregnancy data were collected from the nation wide hospital discharge register and polyclinic data of hospitals from 1973 to 1981. The total number of 1795 pregnancies included 1179 deliveries, 142 spontaneous abortions, and 474 induced abortions. The spontaneous abortion rate (the number of spontaneous abortions X 100, divided by the number of spontaneous abortions plus the number of births) during employment was 10.9% and before/after employment 10.6%. The rate for all the women in the corresponding central hospital districts was 11.3% [corrected] during the study period. A case-control study was also carried out in which the cases were 44 women who had a spontaneous abortion during employment in the pharmaceutical factory. Three age matched female pharmaceutical factory workers who had given birth to a child were chosen as controls for every case. The information about occupational exposures was collected from questionnaires completed by the occupational physician or nurse at the factory. The response rate was 93%. Exposure to chemicals was more common among the cases than among the controls. For methylene chloride, a solvent commonly used in the pharmaceutical industry, the increase in odds ratio of borderline significance (odds ratio 2.3, p = 0.06). In a logistic regression model (which included oestrogen exposure, solvent exposure frequency of the usage, and heavy lifting) the odds ratio was increased for oestrogens (odds ratio 4.2, p = 0.05) and for continuous heavy lifting (odds ratio 5.7, p = 0.02). The odds ratio for spontaneous abortions was greater among those exposed to four or more solvents (odds ratio 3.5, p=0.05) than among those exposed to one to three solvents (odds ration 0.8, p=0.74). PMID:3947584

Labor induction abortion is effective throughout the second trimester. Patterns of use and gestational age limits vary by locality. Earlier gestations (typically 12 to 20 weeks) have shorter abortion times than later gestational ages, but differences in complication rates within the second trimester according to gestational age have not been demonstrated. The combination of mifepristone and misoprostol is the most effective and fastest regimen. Typically, mifepristone 200 mg is followed by use of misoprostol 24-48 h later. Ninety-five percent of abortions are complete within 24 h of misoprostol administration. Compared with misoprostol alone, the combined regimen results in a clinically significant reduction of 40% to 50% in time to abortion and can be used at all gestational ages. However, mifepristone is not widely available. Accordingly, prostaglandin analogues without mifepristone (most commonly misoprostol or gemeprost) or high-dose oxytocin are used. Misoprostol is more widely used because it is inexpensive and stable at room temperature. Misoprostol alone is best used vaginally or sublingually, and doses of 400 mcg are generally superior to 200 mcg or less. Dosing every 3 h is superior to less frequent dosing, although intervals of up to 12 h are effective when using higher doses (600 or 800 mcg) of misoprostol. Abortion rates at 24 h are approximately 80%-85%. Although gemeprost has similar outcomes as compared to misoprostol, it has higher cost, requires refrigeration, and can only be used vaginally. High-dose oxytocin can be used in circumstances when prostaglandins are not available or are contraindicated. Osmotic dilators do not shorten induction times when inserted at the same time as misoprostol; however, their use prior to induction using misoprostol has not been studied. Preprocedure-induced fetal demise has not been studied systematically for possible effects on time to abortion. While isolated case reports and retrospective reviews document uterine rupture during second-trimester induction with misoprostol, the magnitude of the risk is not known. The relationship of individual uterotonic agents to uterine rupture is not clear. Based on existing evidence, the Society of Family Planning recommends that, when labor induction abortion is performed in the second trimester, combined use of mifepristone and misoprostol is the ideal regimen to effect abortion quickly and completely. The Society of Family Planning further recommends that alternative regimens, primarily misoprostol alone, should only be used when mifepristone is not available. PMID:21664506